
When you hear “El Salvador,” what do you think? If you take a look at this wonderful new 1-minute-23-second video from Belú Cacao of El Salvador, on which I was thrilled to do a bit of remote behind-the-scenes consulting, you might think “gorgeous, clean, nature, cacao, chocolate, women in business!”
Belú Cacao is a woman-owned craft chocolate company, and I am thrilled to work with amazing founder Emily de Urías in getting her bars ready for and now successful in the US market! Her chocolate of course meets my 5 Ss of first-class craft chocolate, in that it is
- slavery-free
- sustainable
- soy-free and lecithin-free
- small-batch and
- scrumptious!
Should we revive the Chocolate Travel Club and visit El Salvador?


By the way, the business is called Belú because that is founder Emily’s young daughter’s nickname. Emily’s husband Carlos is super supportive of the business, and they are a fabulous family, using their education and professionalism to boost their community and nation and our world. (In case you’re wondering, Emily speaks perfect English, as my Spanish is known to be awful, especially as it gets tangled up with my French, German, and bad Italian!)
Find Belú products at US retailers including:
Avondale Coffee Club, Chicago
Foodease Market, Chicago
Rare Bird Preserves, Oak Park
Spilt Milk Market, Chicago
Totto’s Market, Chicago
Yahara Chocolate, Stoughton, WI
You can often find the brand’s cacao nibs on my grapefruit; I add them to my breakfast for their nutty flavor and healthy deliciousness!
Enjoy the video!
Your friend in chocolate,
Valerie

Valerie Beck
Chocolate Uplift
Craft Chocolate Talks, Tastings, Distribution, Consulting
chocolateuplift@gmail.com