Cuorenero Chocolate starts by sourcing whole cacao from Caribbean and Latin sources. Their chocolate is produced only with finos, the finest cocoa varieties from the plantations of Latin America (Santo Domingo, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Antilles, etc.). Finos are the premium cocoa beans from the Trinitario or Criollo variety of cocoa trees; they constitute a niche market (4% with respect to the world production of cocoa). After fermentation, desiccation and roasting, the beans are ground in mills and converted into cocoa solids. A special extended production process (approximately 200 hours) produces an incredibly refined base for their creations. They only use cocoa solids in their production-- no cocoa powder is ever used-- and they have decided to not make any milk chocolate products. The factory is an "Allergen-Free Production Oasis" with no milk residues, no nut processing, and no GMO-tainted ingredients.