Virunga

Location: Various villages in the buffer zone of the Virunga National Park, North Kivu province, Congo DR

Varietal: Virunga Amelonado.

Flavour Notes: A deep, intense chocolate note with an earthy tang and hints of black tea.

Terroir: The Virunga varietal grows amidst the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains, creeping into the Semliki Rivershed and down into the wider Congo basin forests. There is a cooler tropical climate in the region, and strong seasonal rains. The mineral-rich soils of the Rift valley are what lend the characteristic earthiness to the beans grown here.

Description

Project history 

In 2007, East-Africa based agronomist Hilde de Beule was searching for a partner to turn the dormant plan for a cacao development project in war-torn Eastern Congo into reality. Her vision was luckily shared by Philipp Kauffman, who at the time was starting-up a new conservation chocolate company (now Original Beans!) with similar goals of peace and conservation around Virunga, Africa’s oldest national park. This partnership proved fruitful. By early 2008, Philipp and Hilde had secured their first support funds, and by the following year they had flown one ton of under-fermented Virunga Amelonado cacao to Europe to make the first ever single-origin chocolate from Eastern Congo. 

Original Beans reported that by 2012, 13,000 farmers had been trained for certified cocoa production, doubling their income according to an independent study. Alongside this, they had received education on HIV/ AIDS and tuberculosis.

In 2016 the Femmes de Virunga project was launched, the first ever female-led cacao cooperative in the world, and in one of the most dangerous places to be a woman. The project educates and supports these women, enabling them to provide for and support their families.
Since the project started in 2016 more than a quarter of a million cacao trees have been planted and there are over 1500 women farmers in the cooperative.

Harvest times: May-June

Harvest volume: Coming soon.

Number of farmers: 13,000

Hectares farmed: Coming soon.

Farming notes: Coming soon.

Fermentation and Drying Notes: The Original Beans team has established and controls protocols including sun-drying. However, farmers will usually ferment their beans individually in their fields, using banana leaves, bags or buckets.