PHYSICAL AND ORGANOLEPTIC CHARACTERISTICS
EVALUATION .................................................................. 2.7 
SWEET FRUITY .................................................................. 2.5
CITRIUS FRUITY .................................................................. 2.9
FLORAL.................................................................. 0.8
ACRIOLLADO .................................................................. 3.2
CACAO .................................................................. 3.5
FOREST .................................................................. 0.1
SPICES .................................................................. 0.6
ANNUAL PRODUCTION (TM) .................................................................. 75
MAIN CROP .................................................................. OCT-FEB
MID CROP .................................................................. FEB-MAY
CRIOLLO BEANS .................................................................. 18%
FERMENTED BEANS .................................................................. 88%
PURPLE BEANS .................................................................. 10%
SLATY BEANS .................................................................. 2%
TOTAL .................................................................. 100%
Beans / 100 g.: .................................................................. 90
g./1 Bean: .................................................................. 1,12 g
CERTIFICATION .................................................................. NO
AWARDS .................................................................. NO
Raisins
Twist de Citron
Noisettes • Céréales • Panela • Caramel
Cacao
Anise
El Tesoro cacao, reveals up to 18% of white beans thanks to its blend of trinitario and criollo merideño that provides a superb flavor and aroma.
The cross-section analysis shows fermented beans (± 88%), purple beans (± 10%) and slaty beans (±2%).
Regarding weight, every pod contains around 90 beans, weights 100 gr, every bean weights about 1.12 gr.
Cacao El Tesoro, it’s a hybrid cacao with sweet and citric fruit notes. It possesses a particular acriollado flavor, especially nuts and molasses.
It has a perfect post-harvest process, resulting in a low astringency, sourness and bitterness. It can be found persistent low floral and spices notes.
Producers from El Tesoro start their harvest by carefully selecting the best pods or “maracas” and cutting them down from the cacao trees. They pile up small pod mountains and then, open the cacao pods and remove the wet beans before been transported by donkeys toward the fermentation and drying facility.
Trinitary &
Criollo
Box type: wood.
Turn-around frequency:
1st Turning 24 hours.
2nd Turning: 48 hours.
3rd Turning: 48 hours.
4th Turning: 24 hours.
Trinitary & 
Criollo
Floor type: wooden bed.
Humidity: 8%.
After fermentation, cacao beans are spread out on wooden beds in the sun to reduce the moisture content inside them. The beans are normally raked during five days to ensure uniformity of drying. During these days, the sun exposure is increased gradually in order to avoid astringency and bitterness. Every hour, cacao beans are pile up to let wet wooden bed dry in the sun and then they are spread out again with wooden rakes.
El Tesoro facility central is created in order to obtain the finest cacao. Post-harvest process in the area of South of Maracaibo Lake used to be done in a rudimentary way; they placed wet cacao beans into polypropylene sacks during five days, drying it on the road which gave cacao beans a fuel flavor, decreasing the cacao bean quality.
With the establishment of our El Tesoro facility central, we work together with producers of this area. Our personnel advise them with techniques that enhance pre and post-harvest processes to increase effectively the quality of their cacao.
This facility central currently has ten employees on three main departments (operations, purchase and administration). Our community has about 75 producers who deliver wet cacao beans to complete the post-harvest process, with a production capacity of 75 tm (150 tm max) per year.
Our main harvest months are from September and February. Then it continues a regular harvest until May and a low harvest occurs until August.
The inhabitants of the sector live in decent organized housing. Its facades are very attractive because of its bright colors. They are responsible for crop sowing and harvesting, especially of cacao, coffee, orange, lemon, plantain, passion fruit, cassava and pineapple; used for their own consumption and as an economic activity.
Country: Venezuela
State: Mérida
Municipality: Caracciolo Parra Olmedo
Surface: 607 Km2
Average altitude: 125 m
Coordinates GPS: 8º55´6.25” N 71º18´26.53” O
Population: 2.700
South of Maracaibo Lake (Sur del Lago de Maracaibo) is a Venezuelan sub region comprising the territory of the municipalities Jesús María Semprún, Catatumbo, Colón, Francisco Javier Pulgar and Sucre from Zulia state and the municipality Alberto Adriani, Obispo Ramos de Lora and the population of Palmarito from Tulio Febres Cordero municipality from the state of Mérida.
El Tesoro facility central is situated at about 150 m.a.s.l in the foothill of Paramo La Culata in the northern Andes. In this area, rivers and springs are born, which creates favorable conditions for the agricultural activity, especially animal husbandry, cacao, citrus, coffee and tubers. The economic activity develops in harmony with the environment within a forest of high trees where it exists a balance with the wildlife of the region.
The name El Tesoro comes from the amount of treasures that are buried in the land of what used to be El Tesoro Estate. Some of them have been found and some others, according with the inhabitants of this zone, are still there. It is said that those treasures came from pirates that in the pre-Hispanic period lived in the area of South of Maracaibo Lake. More recently, El Tesoro Estate was established in the '80s by the union of seven Estates that gave rise to what was known at that time El Tesoro Estate. Its main purpose was the animal husbandry; cacao trees were part of the landscape. It was not until the '80s that cacao harvesting started.
The heart of the South of Lake Maracaibo is undoubtedly the epicenter of the Venezuelan cacao Criollo. It is presumed that a cacao plantation was found for the first time in the area during the colonial times. Ancient indigenous people used to call cacao “espití”, “chiré” and “taboo”.
Before the arrival of Europeans, the region was inhabited by indigenous people from ethnic Caribe. In 1592, Gibraltar was founded, and the region became a prosperous agricultural area due to the contribution of slave labor. During the 17th century, it was the target of pirates’ greed. South of Lake was within the jurisdiction of the Province of Maracaibo and it was part of different administrative divisions.
In 1904, El Palmarito corridor was transferred on loan to Merida. Its purpose was to operate as an entrance to Lake Maracaibo
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Donation of Cacao trees
Date: September 19th, 2017.
To achieve sustainability in the provision of quality cacao required to meet the needs of our clients, 2.700 cacao plants were donated to farmers of the community. With this we also guarantee a sustainable future for the families in the area.
Loan of transport units to the community
Date: September 21st, 2017.
In order to ensure a successful start of classes in three public schools nearby our central facility (Tesoro-San Benito, La Esmeralda, Río Frio), a truck was provided to the community for the transportation of primary student’s food from headquarters of CORPOANDES in the city of El Vigía.