Straight From the Source
Meridian Cacao
On this week's episode of Straight From the Source, host Clay Gordon is joined by Gino Dalla Gasperina, founder of Meridian Cacao, a brand new boutique cocoa brokerage firm created specifically to cater to the needs of startup hobbyist and smaller craft chocolate makers looking to source high-quality beans, but don't have the resources to buy tons at a time. Find out what motivated Gino to start the business and hear some of the challenges of direct sourcing cacao. Learn more about cacao production in Trinidad and Tobago and the differences between direct model and fairtrade and other certification models.This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery.
"There's so many different ways to alleviate yourself from poverty in Trinidad, but there is not too much incentive to be in the agriculture industry."
"Tobago 80 years ago was a thriving cacao producer and since then has become absent."
"The price of fine flavor cacao is so ambiguous. It cannot be pegged to a trader's commodity."
--Gino Dalla Gasperina, founder of Meridian Cacao on Straight From the Source