Sam Giha, founder of Cacaosuyo, was born in Peru but grew up in the United States. After earning a degree in economics in Pennsylvania, Sam returned to Peru and worked in the textile industry while enjoying singing, cooking and fine dining in his spare time. He found himself drawn to Peruvian heirloom cacao, both as an exportable commodity and an exceptional tree-to-bar chocolate product. He and his business partner Eduardo LaFranca began their cacao education, learning from experts in the field. Refusing to compromise on quality, Sam and Eduardo began crafting chocolate bars exclusively from cacao of beautiful and noble heritage. They believed that the process could be rather straightforward if the initial raw material was remarkable and rare. They set up their own post-harvest facilities, fermentation boxes, drying beds, and fully-equipped laboratory while they continued to explore flavor and become expert cacao and chocolate tasters. Cacaosuyo’s mission is to seek out and preserve fine flavor Peruvian cacao and transform it into the best possible chocolate.