OUR STORY

FAMILY COMPANY SINCE 1962

It was 1962, and Albert and Elizabeth Schullo wanted to move from Chicago, IL, to Ecuador, South America. So that is what they did, with two kids in tow. After three and a half years doing voluntary work in Quito and Otavalo, the savings were running out. Albert had to do something to earn some money if they wanted to stay in Ecuador.

“What if we sell something we used to make at home in Chicago?” they asked. Albert set about to do just that. He produced the first doughnuts in Ecuador, the first peanut butter, and the first premium brand of truly pure honey. They were pioneers in just about everything. Not only that, the people loved it and kept asking for more.

Albert always looked for the best ingredients, as he wanted to give people the best available, no less than what he gave his own children. Ecuador was a veritable paradise, abundant with honey, fruits, and cereals, all natural with no industrialized processes.

One of the stories passed down through the family was of how the peanuts were selected. The aroma of freshly roasted peanuts brought from Manabi or Loja, provinces of Ecuador, was unforgettable. The peeled peanuts were sieved over an embankment on the road overlooking Guapulo and a 16th century Spanish monastery. This recycling of the skins was perfectly ecological and sustainable. A herd of goats lived on the side of the embankment and happily “recycled” the shells and skins.

One of Albert’s neighbors asked him to save him a bag of peanut shells and skins so he could fertilize his garden in Calderon. Rumor has it the corn that year tasted like peanuts.

What about the honey? Albert scoured the valleys and mountains in his truck to buy the most recent harvests of honey. He had his own beehives in the valley of Tumbaco (9,000 ft altitude), but that didn’t last, as someone stole the hives. The honey was such a fantastic natural product, and people loved “Mr. Schullo.” Albert searched high and low for only the best, even travelling as far as Guaranda, further south in the Andes Mountains, a few days’ drive back then.

The adventure continues, searching high and low to find only the very best of natural and organic ingredients. We are now three generations of the Schullo family in the business.

All of that is thanks to YOU!