Our History


Our History

THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

Chocolate in Mexico stretches back in history to a time before the arrival of the Spanish, originally the cacao bean was used in barter as a form of currency and exchange. This cacao bean was blended with water and indigenous spices, was known as “XOCOATL” (shocoatl) in Nahuatl this means bitter water and was exclusively used by the nobility of the Mayan and Aztec people.

During the colonial era, the Spanish sweetened “XOCOATL” with sugar. As this new food worked its way into the European palates and languages, it became known as “Chocolate”. It was believe to possess curative, aphrodisiac and energizing properties.

In the XVIII century, the cacao tree was given its scientific name. Even this scientific name “THEOBROMA CACAO”, recognized its special qualities. Loosely translated from the latin this means “THE DRINK OR FOOD OF THE GODS”. In that same century the Swiss and Belgians, (to mention some), expanded the methods of refining the cacao bean to include the additional milk.

In honor to all this tradition from our Mayan, Aztec and European ancestors, we hope to preserve and offer to delight the palate.

CHOCOLATES JOHFREJ C&V

We are a Family company that manufactures chocolate while preserving the recipes of our Grandmother Elvira, who since 1920 has held a belief that quality and dedication are traits inherited and passed on from one generation to the next, resulting in a product which is both satisfying to the palate and a fine demonstration of refined artistry.  In honor of her, now the Grandchildren, where the name of JOHFREJ C&V stands for the initials of every single one of them, are dedicated to continue the tradition.

Quality

During all this tradition, the quality has been a priority in the development of our chocolates, in which the process is completely handmade, adding dedicated and meticulous attention to the process of each of the chocolates while always taking into account the selection of ingredients ALL personally supervised by the Chocolate JOHFREJ C & V family.

Due to our recipe’s complexity which requires hours of preparation to help maintain its extensive shelf life for all of our chocolate types (truffles, creams, pralines and others) creates different textures and flavors with a variety of natural fruits and seeds of the season.

The cocoa used for the production of our chocolate comes from the state of Tabasco in southeastern Mexico, which is transferred to the state of Mexico for refining, where it is transformed into our chocolates.

The Begining

fotoinstitucional_redu_large1JOHFREJ C&V in the begining 1913.

teamJOHFREJ C&V nowadays.