Prophecy Chocolate creates delicious chocolate bars in Hardwick, Vt, using direct trade chocolate from Peru. Founder Mateo spent years working on organic farms and fell in love with Peru while farming there. He started "Project Pumamarca" with a friend, Abi Mael, and started distributing artisanal chocolates and foods from the products grown on Mael's family farm. From there Mateo's goal was to "connect family farmers and artisan producers and consumers while guaranteeing fair prices for the farmer and providing the market with the highest quality products." His company Campesino Mateo imports products such as cacao, turmeric, coffee and ginger directly from small family farms. The partner farmers who produce the chocolate for Prophecy Chocolate cultivate an ancient, heirloom cacao variety known as "Chuncho," meaning "native" in the Quechua language. This traditional variety produces premium cacao beans with high fat content, excellent aromas and balanced flavors. Most trees are full sized, non-dwarf trees, which increases the difficulty of harvest but produces higher quality beans. Prophecy Chocolate direct sources ingredients whenever possible, emphasizing the importance of high quality ingredients and transparency when it comes to sourcing.
