Interview: Juan Gonzalez owner
of The Mexican Arabica Bean Company
by Ayn Riggs of SlaveFreeChocolate.org November 9th, 2019
SFC: How did you come to work in the coffee and cocoa bean industry?
JG: All my life I have been working in the coffee and cocoa beans. When I was a child, I worked in the plantations helping my mother in the harvest season and just about 10 years ago I started working again but now an importer and seller.
SFC: When did you hear about child labor problems in West Africa?
JG: All my life I’ve known about it, this is not a new history always. It has been since colonial times.
SFC: Can you tell me about your experiences harvesting cocoa in your youth?
JG: We get up at 4 am to start working, we use to live in the farms ground for the season and after we finish, we move to another province and another farm, I start working since I was 8 years old.
SFC: Do you see a potential child labor problem arising in Central or South America?
JG: Not that same level as Africa, but there are a lot of possibilities. A lot of farms using one kind of child labor, all dependent on the local government, which can see this kind the problem can raise in Asia.
SFC: There is a vastly growing number of small bean to bar chocolatiers that are buying ethically sourced cocoa, aside from this, can you think of other ways they can help in the industry in regard to child labor and slavery?
JG: We have 2 problems here, most of all the small chocolate makers do not buy directly, they don't have any idea about these big problems. They love self-promotion and push their brands. It is very costly for a small chocolate company to buy beans directly. Their chocolate bars would have to cost $15 a piece. So, they buy from me and put on their packages that they purchase their beans directly. Sometimes they take a trip to cocoa farms for some selfies and return home.
Some buy small portions of the cocoa beans directly then fill the gap with cheap slave tainted chocolate.
SFC: What do you see going forward is the biggest challenge for chocolatiers and cocoa wholesalers? JG: Prices and values. Why because fine flavors cocoa bean with all the certifications can cost 3 times more the conventional, you have to remember chocolate is a luxury product and not a necessity like milk, eggs, bread or vegetables even coffee, so high prices, and social conciseness can be a big challenge to be in business. I’ve been in this industry for 30 years and there is still a lot of poverty in the coffee and cocoa bean industry despite the Fair-Trade movement. Certification and cost are so big plus they not helping in anything to places of origin, the only good thing is the farmer can sell a higher price if the market they are low
SFC: What do you do aside from sourcing ethical cocoa to aid the plight of the farmers and their children?
JG: Well every year we have been collecting school supplies and backpacks and send to Honduras to the co-op the I working within buying coffee and cocoa beans, together we promote SAID NOT A CHILD LABOR I start that idea and I find the support the I need in deliver the supplies to the local schools and places where the kids of farmers attending school,
SFC: How do you see climate change affecting your supply of coffee and cocoa beans?
JG: It affects everything, not just the coffee and cocoas beans supplies but all food supplies, the trees they are changing when the flower starts also the despair of the bees who is the most important helper but this is a big-picture the humans have a big part in this and they can help and change but only the planet has the last word.
SFC: What are you most passionate about in regard to your business?
JG: See the happy faces of the farmers and think the with my support I can help just a little be in their lives
SFC: What type of chocolate is your favorite?
JG: I don't eat chocolate; I just taste, and I love the nips and the beans I eat all day long raw and roast they give me a lot of energy ;)
