Chocolate has captured the hearts and imaginations of peoples all over the world and we “dare” you to have “fun” as you partake of our uniquely crafted creation.
Fundare is a Latin derivation for the word fundamental which aptly describes what the ICGT represents in terms of diversity and conservation. Cocoa genebanks are conservatories that keep ancient and interesting cocoa varieties or genetic resources for posterity in a safe environment. The same way money can be used to buy goods and services, genes from the genebank can be harnessed to improve yield, quality, nutraceutical value and develop disease resistance or build resilience to climate change in new cocoa varieties.

 

Fundare bar package and the ICGT

In many ways the ICGT is the fundamental basis, the core, to preserving the future of cocoa and chocolate from which improvements can be initiated.

Cocoa Research Centre (CRC) and Woodblock Chocolate Manufactory have combined forces to create Fundare: A unique taste experience from a truly unique origin created via an extraordinary collaboration to raise awareness and support for the ICGT.

The ICGT is regarded as the largest and most diverse collection of cacao genetic resources in the world and has been designated a ‘Universal Collection’ by Bioversity International. It is our honour to be custodian of this global resource and our mission is to conserve this rare resource for the global cocoa community.

To create Fundare, cocoa pods from the ICGT were harvested at optimal maturity to start this amazing creation. These pods were fermented to exacting standards and end point at the CRC in our small-scale cocoa processing facility and then sun-dried on a roof top dryer overlooking the lush mountains of the Northern Range in Trinidad.

These gems from the ICGT were roasted in a microprocessor controlled oven to delicately bring out the flavours from our unique mixture of varieties in our small scale chocolate making facility by the Food Technology (formerly Flavor, Quality and Food Technology) team at the CRC. The roasted beans were meticulously broken, winnowed and hand-picked by our team of dedicated food technologists and ground into liquor for the next step in their journey to Woodblock Chocolate Manufactory, Portland, Oregon.

Your purchase is part of our joint initiative to assist in funding this unique and important resource - Enjoy!
 

At Woodblock, Charley Wheelock and his team diligently completed the transformation into 65% dark chocolate with a minimalist formulation, expertise and gentle conching to fully capture the essence of the combined diversity of the International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad - Fundare!