As tropical biologists with years of work experience in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the two founders of PERU PURO seen what rainforest destruction and poverty mean. Because both wanted to not just talk but do something, they decided to give cocoa farmers direct access to the European market. PERÚ PURO offers organic fine cocoa, organically grown and direct, fair and without intermediaries from Peruvian farmers. Through further projects on ecological agriculture, they help farmers to cultivate in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, to reforest degraded areas and to feed themselves better.

What was or is your motivation behind PERÚ PURO?

We did not want to accept that the great work of our small farmers in Peru, with their huge commitment in social and ecological terms, remained economically unsuccessful. We want to show that the highest social standards and active rainforest protection can also be economically successful. In doing so, we have always wanted to produce cocoa and chocolate of an extraordinarily high quality. With the original cocoa Chuncho, we not only process one of the rarest cocoa varieties on earth, but also still do this in one single layer and with one vintage.

What is your advice to our readers: What can you do specifically for a better future?

In the case of cocoa and chocolate, one can safely say: buy quality before quantity and look closely at what is hidden behind the products. Certified organic potatoes from Germany are probably quite similar in terms of their production. However, this does not apply to organic chocolate. There are huge differences, even if they all have the same seal! Anyone who buys our chocolate saves a donation for social or ecological projects, for example. For us, this is simply an elementary part of the product.

Basically, everyone should see what he or she can do where he or she is active. Whether job or free time, there are always ways to become active for a better future. Avoid waste, use resources sensibly...

How do travel and sustainability fit together for you?

Travel educates, that has always been true and still applies today. As a biologist I worked in tropical countries for over 10 years. I saw a lot of things we only know from the media on site. Be it what causes climate change or the extinction of species or what the unsustainable use of natural resources means. If I hadn't traveled, I might not be as committed to the cause today. The right trip creates consternation and increases the understanding of connections. Anyone who simply books blindly, as often as possible, as cheaply as possible and as all-inclusive as possible, will of course cause more harm than good. Travel and sustainability then become opposites.