by Mark Christian | Jan 1, 2013 | The Crush Pad Editorials
Twenty to thirty families own 70% of the assets in Peru. Many are the same ones awarded royal land grants from the Spanish crown in the 1500s. To Americans, that’s old money. To Spaniards sitting back in Seville, they’re just young relatives who bought a ticket to the...
by Mark Christian | Dec 31, 2012 | The Crush Pad Editorials
As much as the brass wanted to jump with joy & announce their cache to the world, this was after all northern Peru. Across the border in Ecuador, headlines of Nacional transgressing into rival territory will be received as unwelcome news. Huh? How’s that? Nations...
by Mark Christian | Dec 30, 2012 | The Crush Pad Editorials |
Marañón Canyon Cacao signed a Material Transfer Agreement with the USDA, then sent random leaf samples to its Beltsville, Maryland Laboratory for genetic testing. A couple months later Lyndel Meinhardt called Pearson with the results. “Dan, are you sitting down?” At...
by Mark Christian | Dec 29, 2012 | The Crush Pad Editorials
At 3,500 feet Fortunato’s sits up a gem amidst the emerald canyon setting below to perfectly reflect the gentlemen farmer who bestowed his name to it. In his mid-50s, humble, generous & gallant, Sir Fortunato welcomes visitors & sets the table as if a...
by Mark Christian | Dec 29, 2012 | The Crush Pad Editorials
Buoyed by what he heard, Pearson dug into the chemistry of it all, the myriad compounds that comprise cocoa beans – not quite a sextillion, just 800+ & counting. High enough to baffle food science flavorists & thwart their desires to synthesize an artificial...
