IO Podcast | Episode 54
Ten years ago, Elmer Pineda and his wife started harvesting cacao in Honduras, believing it was a low-cost investment. Located close to the Yojoa lake, they named their business Yojoa Chocolate. However, once they began producing chocolate, they realized that crop maintenance was intensive and competition with foreign brands was challenging.
In this episode, Pineda shares how they faced a pivotal moment: shut down the business or innovate. They chose innovation, spending two to three years developing a compelling brand with flavors that match Honduras’s rich cacao, which has slightly more fat (cacao butter) content. Pineda’s unique approach, pushing the boundaries of taste creativity, allowed him to compete with well-known US and Swiss brands at Honduran supermarkets and garner international prizes. Pineda has also weaned his farm off pesticides and is pursuing organic certification, in an effort to meet the needs of the high-end market.
Despite their success in crafting a premium product, Pineda still faces a major challenge: his factory operates at well below capacity due to low demand. Exporting to the United States remains difficult because he lacks the right distributor, and he invites US retailers to consider the potential in Central America. The Yojoa case highlights the importance of building strong connections between Latin American producers and US distributors to unlock new opportunities and drive economic growth for both regions.
I was able to bring back a small quantity of Pineda’s chocolate with me to Colorado. If you would like to try some and are in the United States or Canada, you can order it via my personal eBay.
Recommended Links
- Follow Yojoa Chocolates on Instagram.
- “San Pedro Sula Mayor: Remittances Are Blood Money,” Impunity Observer.
- “Eduardo Facussé: New Transatlantic Trade Bloc Will Oust China,” Impunity Observer.
