Cocoa Pods
If you’ve followed my various blogs for awhile, you’ll know that I’m a compulsive kibbitzer in other people’s websites.
So, welcome to my latest. Last week, I visited Villa Vanilla in Costa Rico….Villa Vanilla Spice Plantation is a sustainable organic spice farm in Costa Rica. We are certified organic and biodynamic and grow a variety of spices and essential oil plants, including vanilla, cocoa, and ceylon (true) cinnamon.
I took the kids and my wife and we got a personal two hour tour by Chelsea of how they grow vanilla, cocoa, ginger, peppers, mint, coffee etc in a self sustaining very organic way. I loved it. For me, it was exactly what education should be. (Except, I would have liked being put to work for awhile.) Our tour guide, whom we took to dinner, was a recent hire. Previously, Chelsea was a pastry chef in Boston. Now, she’s living in a shack on a farm in Costa Rico hoping that they’ll build her a better oven than her current toaster oven. BUT, her cookies from that little toaster oven were pretty remarkable. I’m pretty sure than anyone who has tasted her cookies would do anything in his or her power to increase her output of those delicacies. They were amazing.
So, she is also taking care of their marketing which is mostly via local hotels. But she does have a website (a nice one) built in joomla. I might kibbitz a bit with her about her site and marketing since I find the subject very interesting. And it echoes my own life in that I spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer working with cocoa, 1980-82, Cameroon.
Hi Chelsea! thanks for the tour. I hope you liked dinner. And remembered to get your flat tire fixed. I’ll be looking over your site and marketing in the weeks ahead to see if I have any ideas of how to help. Your coffee drink.. the recreated drink of the gods (cocoa, vanilla, pepper, and honey) is incredible. Thanks.
First question: Do you get a record of everyone’s email who visits? Do you request that each website visitor leave you their email? The simplest way to do additional marketing is to start with an online email sent out periodically to people who have asked for updates.
December 28, 2008 at 4:13 pm |
i tried the raw cocoa beans before, and its nice! sweet and sourish. we used to pluck it off the cocoa tree when we were younger and hit the fruit on the floor or use something to break it, then it cracked, we open it up and eat the fruit. very nice
December 29, 2008 at 3:09 am |
Raw cocoa beans (which are not really beans of course) are not great to eat. But, the white goo that the beans are stored in, is delicious. Mostly, the goo is not suppose to be eaten since it is used to ferment the beans.
January 1, 2009 at 12:09 pm |
they are like fruits, and of course we dun eat the pit, just the white flesh.
January 1, 2009 at 12:12 pm |
they are like fruits, and of course we dun eat the pit, just the white flesh, the pulp. they are sweet when the pod turn yellowish. you should try it homeschool