A program is carried out between Ecuador and France to promote the Country Brand through cocoa with expert chocolatiers

As part of the Origin Ecuador program, an initiative of the Embassy of Ecuador and the Commercial Office in France to promote, among other aspects, the value of cocoa and Ecuadorian gastronomy in that country, a program has been developed in which seven prominent chefs , French pastry chefs and chocolatiers, accompanied by three gastronomic journalists of the same nationality, They visit Ecuador from September 10 to 17 to learn about the origin and value of cocoa in Ecuador and, at the same time, discover the quality of Ecuadorian gastronomy, promoting the Country Brand.

Cocoa is from the Amazon and was consumed 5,500 years ago, according to Ecuadorian and French archaeologists

Part of the program is to take a tour of Quito, Guayaquil, Cerecita, Naranjal and Palanda, the latter canton of the province of Zamora Chinchipe, so that the guests can learn about the gastronomic variety that the country offers and the current development of cocoa. The agenda includes meetings with chefs, academics and businessmen in the sector, visits to specialized farms, production plants and a historical journey to the roots of the domestication of cocoa.

The beginning of this agenda began with the decoration, by the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, to the archaeologist Francisco Valdez, leader of the investigation in Santa Ana-Palanda, an area where the Mayo-Chinchipe-Marañón culture settled. “Valdez has officially been doing this for fifteen years. What he discovered somehow changes the history of the country by saying that we are the origin of the domestication of cocoa in the world,” says Pilar Estrada, counselor and cultural attaché at the Embassy of Ecuador in France, via Zoom.

Remains of culture from 4,500 years ago were found in Zamora

Also on the agenda is the visit of the guests to the archaeological site where proof was found that the origin of the domestication of cocoa is around 5,500 years ago in the Ecuadorian Amazon. “This is almost 2,000 years before Mexico, where this fact had been historically located. This history-changing discovery is supported by numerous international scientific studies that confirm that the first place on the planet where humans used cocoa was in the current territory of Ecuador,” a statement said.

The ten guests, who have stood out in different fields of French cuisine, are: Guillaume Gomez, Christelle Brua, Davy Tissot, Christophe Marguin, Cédric Moulot, Johanna Le Pape, Victoire Finaz, Amanda Chamorro, Adeline Glibota and Maeva Destombes. The presence of the experts further strengthens the promotion of the Country Brand by making local products and gastronomy visible, while ties with France are strengthened.

Discovery in Zamora reveals an ancient history of the Amazon

This activity that is being developed is one of the points on the Ecuador Origin Brand agenda, comments Estrada. “It is a program that the Embassy of Ecuador in France created together with the Commercial Office in France of the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries of Ecuador. We got together at the end of last year to create a global program because we realized the potential that Ecuadorian cocoa has in France. For me it was perfect because it encompasses everything, since from cocoa you can talk about tourism, culture, gastronomy, environment, commerce, history, archaeology. That is, it is a product that you can talk about the country. To get an idea, France is the sixth country in Europe with the highest consumption of chocolate and just to mention two dates, Christmas and Easter, it moves one million euros a year, only on those two dates”.

Estrada comments that she was very moved to have met Francisco Valdez. “He is an Ecuadorian archaeologist who has lived in France for many years. He worked for the French Research Institute and is the one who led the research and continues to demonstrate, because there are several studies with various universities, on the domestication of cocoa. Valdez showed that the first time someone on the planet said that we can eat and drink this fruit was in Ecuador. Today we can say that the origin of the domestication of cocoa, from which all the uses of cocoa will derive, comes from us, from our land. That was news to me because in France, which is a country that loves history and at the same time loves chocolate, it’s like having a win-win (win win). Nobody loses here, on the contrary, both countries are empowered through this type of programs that are on the agenda until 2024″.

The choice and the presence of the chocolatier experts were thanks to a management of the Commercial Office of Ecuador in France. “This office was related to André Obiol, who is the president of the Ecuadorian Hotel Federation, who in turn made contact with Guillaume Gomez, who is the ambassador of French gastronomy in the world appointed by President Emmanuel Macron. Gomez was the gateway to bring together the rest of the chefs, pastry chefs and chocolatiers who are in our country. The idea with this first group is for them to see this discovery in Ecuador and also the news about cocoa and thus be able to attract the attention of other chefs so that next year they can also visit Ecuador. This expert visit was made with a letter of invitation signed by the French ambassador in Ecuador and the Ecuadorian ambassador in France. It was a joint effort”, concludes Estrada.

This activity has been coordinated with the Presidency of the Republic, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador. In turn, the guests’ trip is supported by Quito Turismo, the Guayas Prefecture, the French Embassy in Ecuador, local institutions and private companies.