The operation that provided the Company with the greatest profit margin was the cocoa trade, so much so that, despite its interest in tobacco, it remained in Dutch hands. Regarding cocoa, suffice it to recall a few facts: as indicated, during the Company's first stage, in the 1930s, cocoa was acquired in Caracas at a price of 6 or 8 pesos per bushel. The selling price on the Peninsula was 50 pesos or more, which represented a large profit margin, also for consumers, who saw how the market price had dropped compared to what it had reached via Amsterdam years earlier. The privileged position in which Guipuzcoana operated led it to commit abuses, such as setting low prices for the acquisition of cocoa (6-8 pesos per bushel, depending on quality), while in the metropolis it sold for more than 50 during the first stage of its activity. Whether due to these or other circumstances, the fact is that 1748-9 there was a revolt against Guipuzcoana. In this uprising, there were also other interests, such as the English, who, after having failed to capture La Guaria (the main entrance to the Caracas coast), under the command of Charles Knowles, invited its inhabitants to revolt against Guipuzcoana, promising them better conditions than those they enjoyed with the Company.
The complaints, and especially the revolt, led the monarch to temporarily suspend the Guipuzcoana company's operations until the alleged abuses could be verified. After two years, activity resumed, but with some changes for the company. Thus, the trading company had to set prices for cocoa, both for purchase in the colony (13-14 pesos per bushel) and for sale in the metropolis (33-35 pesos). In this way, the profit margin was reduced, but the cocoa business remained highly profitable.