Brian Horsley

Brian Horsley is a systems engineer and the Chief Operating Officer of Marañón Chocolate. He has been living in Peru since 2002. Brian is a citizen of the United States and Peru. His Peruvian wife Cecelia and their bi-lingual three year old daughter, Amara, live in the Marañón Canyon with the farm families.

“Brian has created a new process which has set the standard for how cacao is processed,” said Franz Ziegler, a renowned pastry chef and author. “I have never seen beans with so much vinegar acid removed during post harvest processing,” said Ziegler. “Conching’s primary function is to remove the vinegar acid naturally created during the fermenting process. Some subtle flavors are lost during this process. Brian has found a way to remove vinegar acid before the conching, which helps protect the subtle flavors,” said Ziegler.