Meet the maker
Minka
Jorge Martínez is an agricultural engineer with over 25 years of experience working in Ecuador’s cocoa industry. Inspired by the history of the famed Arriba Nacional beans from Ecuador in the 1800s, he set up Minka Chocolate in 2015 with his business partner, Mr. Luis Avalos. Now Jorge runs the company with his wife, Cristina, and employs around a dozen people directly involved in the chocolate business.
The name “Minka” is a Quechua word for “teamwork”, and it – or its variant “minga” – is used across South America with this meaning. Jorge and Luis chose this name to encapsulate the relationship they have with their farmers, buying directly from farmers where possible and paying a fair price for their beans’ quality.
Their mission is simple: to make Minka a recognised brand of high-quality chocolate worldwide, celebrating their Ecuadorian origins, and providing supreme tasting experiences for chocolate lovers and those who value health and fitness. They’ve recently been working on a new range of Keto snacks, and have been experimenting with sugar-alternative chocolate bars.
They travel across the country to find the best quality cocoa farmers, and establish close relationships with farmers and their cooperatives. They currently source beans from the northern coastal province of Esmeraldas, and the southern provinces of Manabí, Los Rios, and Guayas. They’ve also recently developed an Amazon 43% milk bar, which you can find in the catalogue below.
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