Irú Ortega, alchemy of joy and Venezuelan cocoa

By: Liliana Elías / @ lilianaelias79

There are some people who change one’s day, who are capable of dispelling the dark clouds with a smile and a friendly tone. And if the smile is accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate, much better!

Irú Ortega was fortunate enough to inherit that good from the stars. She knows how to glitter even remaining silent. So it is some people’s energy, she moves and communicates for herself. One can meet her at Cacao de Origen, at Hacienda La Trinidad. She has taken part in the growth of this store located in Caracas since its beginnings four years ago. She looks after that everything runs smoothly, prepares a delicious hot chocolate, arranges the bonbons on the shelf and above all, she makes sure that all customers feel at home.

That happens to be the secret of who dedicates her life to attend to the public, something that Vivaelcacao.com promotesentirely, to look for the good of a country through a culture of optimal care, being cocoa the connecting thread between who offers and who receives a foodstuff, both for the body and for the soul. We applaud and celebrate people like Irú, especially in times of crisis, when what we need the most is hope and work.

A Chilean with a Venezuelan soul

Her accent and the “mijita” betray her. This 92-years-old girl is Chilean, undoubtedly. She gradually surrendered to the charms of our country after her daughter Mirella Silva, co-owner of Soma Café, asked her for a trip to Venezuela in 1974 as an only graduation present. “She came here and never returned to Chile, thus, I ended up coming after her”. They both fell in love with our savoir faire, soparticular, so Caribbean.

“Someday, when I retire, I will come here to spend my golden years”, she stated, and she did. When Iru is asked what she liked the most about Venezuela, her eyes gleam and she exclaims “the people! They are so cheerful, so kind, because there are still friendly people, and the country that I find beautiful … That I love … “.

Cocoa identifies her

Sally Flynn’s everlasting phrase on the film Forrest Gump:”Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get” Irúgot to express herself in cocoa which filled her with life and stir up her spirit of work. That is why today she does not even imagine living without the food of gods. “Cocoa conveys everything beautiful, I knew nothing about chocolate and started at Kakao Venezuela Bombonería, and then I changed here where I’m super happy”, she points out. She learned how to husk the seed, prepare hot chocolate, organise the products, and above all, to value visitors who look for having a good timein a place that promises pleasant moments.

From Vivaelcacao.com we invite you to meet Irú, a woman who will surely help you forget stress while, with a kind and beautiful face, serves you a hot chocolate.