FROM THE CRUZ FAMILY IN BRAZIL TO TIERRA NUEVA USA

Since 1879
130 years of chocolate tradition

Beginning – Coffee and Cocoa.

In 1879, the Portuguese family Cruz founded a trading company named Cruz Sobrinhos in Brazil , to import and export products. The company imported manufactured goods, and exported coffee beans to the European markets. The company was located in Vitoria , capital of the Espirito Santo state, located between the states of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.

The most important businesses in the region at that time were wood, coffee and cocoa. Augusto Guimarães Cruz continued to grow his import / export company, and started buying coffee beans directly from local farmers and selling within Brazil as well as exporting. At that time, the company also represented some shipping companies as bucket agent.

After the crack of 1929, the company went out of business due to lack of customers with financial capability to import coffee on the international markets.

In 1941 , Augusto José Cruz Sobrinho established another company, to trade cocoa beans produced in the Linhares cocoa region, close to Vitoria in the Espirito Santo state. The company was named A.G.Cruz and soon became one of the biggest exporters of cocoa beans from South America to the European and American markets.

In 1945 , Cezar Augusto Cruz , Augusto José Cruz Sobrinho’s son , started to work in A.G.Cruz company and expanded the cocoa beans business buying directly into the Bahia cocoa producing region, drastically increasing the company’s turnover and started buying cocoa farms in the Linhares cocoa region .

In 1972 , Renato da Cruz Abaurre, Grandson of Augusto Guimarães Cruz, started to work at A.G.Cruz as a trader of cocoa beans and, managing the five farms owned by the company.

The Evolution – Chocolate

In 1975, A.G.Cruz started a partnership in a cocoa and chocolate processing factory named Chocolates Vitoria S.A.. It was located close to Vitoria and started to produce chocolate for the Brazilian market and export cocoa products to the US and European markets.
Following the family tradition, Flavio da Cruz Abaurre, the brother of Renato da Cruz Abaurre, a mechanical engineer, started to work in the factory in 1981 as industrial director.

In 1984, Renato da Cruz Abaurre moved to Chocolates Vitoria S.A. as commercial director for the Brazilian domestic market in charge of chocolate and cocoa sales. The company grew fast reaching over US$100MM/year in sales, exporting cocoa and chocolate for large companies in US such as Hershey´s, M&M Mars, Wilbur Chocolate, Ambrosia Chocolate, etc…

In 1991, Flavio and Renato left the company to establish their own chocolate factory. The new company was named Siccan Produtos Alimenticios LTDA, recently renamed SPALI - Sociedade Produtora de Alimentos Ltda. and SPALI was set to produce special chocolates, sugar free, under the trade mark “DIATT”. The brand immediately became a leader in the diet segment in the Brazilian retail market over major international and domestic brands like Kraft, Nestle and Garoto, position that it is still holding.

In 2003, the company went to the bulk (industrial) market of chocolate and compound, having now tree brands, DIATT for diet chocolate, VITO for chocolate and NORCAU for compound.

The Future : Re-inventing Chocolate Manufacturing

In 2001, the group started a new venture based on a chocolate processing and manufacturing equipment new patent and created a company named MELLER Equipments & Technology. The objective of the business is to sell revolutionary “turn key” chocolate factories for the Brazilian domestic market. In order to promote the international sales for the machinery and process, the German company NETZSCH was licensed. Since the company started, five years ago, Meller installed twenty nine turn key chocolate factories.

In 2007, FLORESTA DO RIO DOCE was founded, another company that was added to the group structure to make the bean-to-bar concept real, by administrating farms as well as the quality cocoa beans crops and treatment to generate fine chocolate at the end of the process, it is being certified Organic and Natural Cocoa farm and soon will be certified as Fair Trade.

In 2008, TIERRA NUEVA was founded as the TOP of this vertical flexible structures group, carrying the 130 years of chocolate experience from the Cruz Family. The main goal of this new Company is to assure quality in chocolate products by controlling all the steps from the bean-to-bar, even the machines involved in the process through the companies of the group. TIERRA NUEVA, is located in Miami US and is scheduled to start running the first production in January 2009.

In 2009, MESOAMERICA will gather the business to make it complete, by adding to the structure a?cocoa processing company with plants operating in the main cocoa producing regions of Brazil and the world, to guarantee the quality and constant supply of high quality origin Cocoa to the Group Factories.

Companies of the group :

TIERRA NUEVA-USA
MESOAMERICA
MELLER
FLORESTA DO RIO DOCE
SPALI-BRAZIL
All together, fully integrated Fine Quality Chocolate Suppliers since 1879.
130 years of tradition and experience in chocolate manufacturing.