Due to its excellent taste, Nicalizo is the first cocoa bean from Nicaragua with ‘Heirloom cocoa’ status.

The cocoa beans used by Morin to create this dark chocolate originate mainly from the mountainous Jinotega region, in the north of Nicaragua. This is the perfect region for growing cocoa: fertile soils and rain all year round, with high temperatures. Due to the effects of global warming, more and more farmers in the area stop growing coffee (which needs a cooler climate) and switch to cocoa.

Morin buys these beans from Danish idealists Ingemann. In Nicaragua, they specialise in cocoa and work closely with the local farmers to grow better quality cocoa and enhance farmer income. The farmers receive training from the Cocoa Academy plus regular on-farm advisory visits.

Ingeman pays the farmers a fixed price of 25% over the market price for at least 30 years. This gives the farmers the long term financial stability they need. Ingeman employees visit the plantations every week to collect the beans and assist the farmer with fermentation and drying. This is their hands-on approach to quality control and traceability. The Morin beans can be traced back to the Florès family. But generally, for the required amounts of beans, supply from more than one farmer is needed.