THE FARMERS
Tuta and Juliana Aquino, are direct descendants of two traditional founding families of cacao farms
in the state of Bahia dating back to 1890’s, They are proud to be the growers, the Nibs processors,
the exporters from Brazil and the importers/distributors in the USA.
An unbroken chain of quality!
JULIANA AQUINO
A Bahia native, Juliana lived in the state capital Salvador, where she found her calling as a singer. She performed with most of Bahia’s most famous artists, like Gilberto Gil, Ivete Sangalo and at many Carnaval events nationwide. She married her childhood friend Tuta and moved to NYC where she lived for 5 years. After returning to Brazil and releasing two solo albums with worldwide success in the Latin Jazz market, Juliana turned her attention back to Cacao and her father’s farm Fazenda Santa Rita / Vale Putumuju. With a culinary school diploma, Juliana fell in love with Bean to Bar chocolate and founded Baianí Chocolates
TUTA AQUINO
Was born in Bahia and lived at a cacao farm until he was 10 y.o. Spent his teenage years in São Paulo and then moved to New York City to work in the Music Business as a producer and engineer for 20 years. Tuta married Juliana and moved back to Brazil in 1999 where he continued working at his Music Production company DOREMIX. Since 2012 he has devoted most of his time improving the methods and productivity of Fazenda Santa Rita, taking a journey back to his roots with a newfound love for the region, the Rain Forest and Cacao.
VERIDIANO SANTOS
Veridiano is at the helm overseeing the everyday aspects of planting, harvesting, fermenting and drying of the Cacao at our Origin. He interacts with our collaborators and technicians, making sure all the right conditions for their work is met. His 50 years of experience, bringing old-time skills that now coupled with the new techniques used at our farm, are key to the success we are achieving in our crops as well as the quality and consistency on our final product.