It's been (and will continue to be) a long journey. Remember this? Yeah. Countless times I've left La Red cursing under my breath and swearing that I'd never return.
We finally sent a container of cacao to our friends at Taza Chocolate.
There was lots of merengue tipico, mamajuana and beer as we waited for the container to arrive from Santo Domingo to load. As we waited, more and more people came. The container finally rolled in around 8pm and it felt surreal. I was always very unsure as to if I would ever see the day that a container leaves from our warehouse. But I did.
210 jute sacks full of fermented organic cacao. 14.7 metric tons. Blood, a lot of sweat and even some tears.
Each 140lb sack was hand (or head) loaded.
Making the last one fit.
And I couldn't be happier. The payment for that cacao will make life a little easier around La Red. What's next? Well, the harvest is pretty much over. I'd like to believe that we will continue buying cacao as it closes out but really we need to start financially planning for the next harvest in October and maybe look for some potential investors for pre-harvest purchase money.
I have plans to make a formal website, finish the new labels for our cocoa powder that we sell and begin to settle some old debts that the coop has.
But this week is bittersweet. One of our oldest board members who has been with La Red since the beginning, Carlos Suarez (pictured below, far left) suffered a heart attack late Saturday night and has been in the hospital since then. He is sorely missed at the project and we are all praying for him.
Love from chocolate country, Kaley
No comments:
Post a Comment