From Ecuador’s Coast to Mill City: Chocolate San José - Minneapolis

From Ecuador’s Coast to Mill City: Chocolate San José – Minneapolis

Written by Victoria Blanco

Local Sourcing Note

Occasional non-local exceptions are made at MCFM on a case-by-case basis for products that cannot be grown locally like coffee and chocolate, so long as they come directly from their family farm and are processed and prepared locally with additional local ingredients. San Jose Chocolate’s beans come directly from their family’s farm (Hacienda San José) and all products sold at MCFM are processed and prepared locally, featuring 25% local ingredients to meet our Local Sourcing Standard.

Stop by Monica’s booth at the Mill City Farmers Market and you’ll find more than chocolate. You’ll find a family story that stretches from the coastal plains of Ecuador all the way to Minneapolis.

Monica’s family has grown cacao since 1930 at Hacienda San José, in Ecuador’s Los Ríos Province, where waterways flowing down from the Andes meet the coastal plains. It’s a landscape built for cacao with fertile soil, abundant water, warm temperatures, and steady rainfall. Picture the hacienda: rows of cacao trees heavy with ridged pods in shades of gold and crimson, harvested by hand and set to ferment. This is a process the family has refined over generations. Their fermentation process coaxes out deep, fruity flavor while removing the astringency and acidity common in high-percentage chocolates, which means they can add far less sugar than most brands without sacrificing flavor.

From there, the beans travel north, from one part of the family to another. Monica, who has called the Twin Cities home since 2002, transforms them into small-batch chocolate in St. Louis Park, blending Ecuadorian cacao with local Minnesota ingredients. Since opening her Chocolate San Jose – Minneapolis market booth in 2023, she’s built a following for bars in flavors like cranberry, sea salt, and pistachio in 70% and 90% dark, along with roasted and ground cacao for brewing, cacao nibs for salads, ceremonial grade cacao, and rich hot chocolate. These products feature local ingredients from fellow MCFM vendors such and hazelnuts from Hazel Heart Farms, maple sugar from Horner’s Corner and more!

The care extends beyond the chocolate itself. The farm is Rainforest Alliance Certified, and every farm worker receives free healthcare, education, and a share of annual profits. Monica’s nephews help grow and package the cacao, and her daughter works with a Christian foundation supporting the Kallari community — the source of much of the family’s cacao, purchased at fair prices that sustain local livelihoods deep in the Amazon rainforest.

The chocolate world has taken notice. Chocolate San José’s honors include:

2023 Gold Cacao of Excellence
2021 Silver Cacao of Excellence
2016 and 2019 Pepa de Oro Award, World Cacao Summit
2018 International Chocolate Awards Winner

But for Monica, the real reward is connection: between the Kallari community in the Amazon, her family on Ecuador’s coast, and her neighbors here in the Twin Cities. “We are so happy when our customers are happy,” she says.

New product alert: Iced brewing cacao

This summer, Monica introduced two new ready-to-drink brewing cacao beverages. These are refreshing and nourishing drink options for market visitors. They’re served cold, made with real brewing cacao, and offer a delicious way to enjoy the natural benefits of cacao during the warmer months. Try it out on their remaining outdoor market dates!

2026 Next Stage Grant Awardee

Good news for chocolate lovers: Chocolate San Jose – Minneapolis was awarded a Next Stage Grant this spring, allowing them to increase the amount of chocolate they are able to process here in Minnesota while also receiving organic certification here in the US.

“This grant is helping us take a meaningful step: scaling our import and local processing of certified organic cacao sourced from Indigenous farming communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. These growers already hold organic certification. Now, we’re working to earn ours in the US, so we can honor their work at the scale it deserves. We’ve officially submitted all our documentation and draft materials for organic certification and now we wait! It’s a big step for us and for how we source for this community. We’ll share the moment we hear back – thank you for growing with us.”

Follow along on their Instagram for future project updates.

You can find Chocolate San José at the Mill City Farmers Market on select Saturdays year round (upcoming market dates are listed here). Taste the chocolate, and take home a piece of Monica’s story!