Sambirano valley

On the fertile soils of the Ambanja district, is an organic cacao orchard that makes up one part of a 2000 hectare Akesson Estate in northwest Madagascar’s Sambirano valley.

The estate is  owned by Bertil Åkesson. Before Bertil bought the plantation back in 1998, it was owned by the government (like every plantation in Madagascar back then). 

The cacao mainly consists of Trinitario (a cacao varietal) trees that were brought to the island by the French, and a small part of Criollo. Over the years Bertil and his family have played an important role in elevating the standards of high-quality Madagascan cacao.

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Certification: organic BE-BIO-01

Bom Jesus Plantation

Bom Jesus is a single plantation within Brazil's Atlantic Protected Forest (Mata Atlântica). It's part of the Cabruca cooperative in Bahia.

Patrick, the plantation owner, has made it his life's project to protect and regenerate the land, and became one of the two first organic cocoa producers in Brazil in 1987.

Bom Jesus thrives in an agroforestry, an intercropped system, with biodynamic agricultural practices. They've transformed their hectares into a lush cocoa haven with 3 levels of vegetation and have achieved the Demeter certification by using biodynamic practices to ensure soil fertility.

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Certification: organic CA18272

Semuliki Forest

Latitude Trade Co is a Ugandan social enterprise with the goal of building economic development in the cocoa communities they work with. They buy organic certified fresh cacao with cash on delivery at rural collection points within walking distance from the cocoa farms.

The cacao is centrally fermented and sun-dried at Latitude's nearby facility, recognized and praised by many craft chocolate makers around the world, (and also used at their own local small batch chocolate factory in Uganda).

Their supplier program provides farmers with a premium price, training, insurance, and microfinance. Latitude Trade Co's supplier program seeks to uplift cocoa farmers and create a more resilient and prosperous farming community.

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Certification: organic UG-BIO-149

Kilombero valley

Over the last 10 years, Brian LoBue and Simran Bindra, the founders of Kokoa Kamili, have put the Tanzanian cocoa sector on the fine flavor map. In the Kilombero valley, in the heart of Tanzania, Kokoa Kamili collaborate with approximately 2400 smallholder farmers.

They travel to meet farmers and purchase wet cocoa directly from farmers' pods, paying the farmers more than they would receive if they were to ferment and dry the beans themselves. Year after year, through a meticulously controlled post-harvest process, Kokoa Kamili produce cacao that is among the best in the world.

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Certification: organic TZ-BIO-149

Piura region

Norandino is a cooperative in Piura, in the north of Peru, made up of a group of smallholder farmers committed to elevating social and economic standards and preserving the environmental heritage through high-quality produce.

Norandino provides technical field assistance to all its members, support in certifications, upfront credits for small producers and knowledge sharing in all their agricultural research. They have also built a groundwater well for drinking water and a children's park for the community.

The natural growth of this cacao starts in the river basin of the Marañon river, in the border between Peru and Ecuador. The varietal of cacao grown here (Cacao Blanco de Piura) is a native and unique cacao because of its ancient origin in the Upper Amazon. The cocoa beans are a descendant of the Nacional variety, among the rarest in the world, and characterized by their white colour and delicate flavours.

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Certification: organic  PE-BIO-149

L’Esterre is a family-run cocoa & nutmeg estate that’s been within the Ramdhanny family for the past seven decades. The name literally translates to the ‘Land of the East.’

L’Esterre is tucked in the northeast of the island of Grenada, surrounded by gentle hills of thickly forested land, bound by a river. Falling just on the outskirts of the rainforest, it benefits from frequent rainfall and rich, volcanic, fertile soil.

Still very much at the heart of the family today, they grow organic cocoa and nutmeg and follow regenerative agroforestry and intercropping techniques, mimicking nature with mixed cultivation, maintaining the rich soil and its biodiversity.

This method is more biologically productive, the soil is continuously enriched and nutritious, achieving higher yield and healthy, thriving crops.

They work with crop rotation and 'cover crops' to build soil, (for example cocoa pod shells are left to decompose beneath trees becoming food for the soil) which removes the need for fertilizers and pesticides.

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Certification: organic CE-201129 

Choloma Region

APACH is the Asociación de Productores Agroforestales de la Cuenca del Rio Choloma. A cooperative of 110 small-scale producers of which 25% are women.

The plantations are nestled in the mountains of El Merendon, in the municipality of Choloma, right on the northern coast of Honduras in the Department of Cortés.

As a cooperative, APACH focuses on promoting sustainable farming practices, supporting the economic well-being of its members, and fostering collaboration among producers.

In an attempt to get better prices and appreciation for the high-quality cocoa they were producing, members of APACH teamed up and founded the cooperative in 1995 and over the last two decades they've also been able to diversify their income through other crops like lumber and tropical fruit.

Cooperative members receive training and assistance to increase quality and productivity, and all use small-scale production within organic and agroforestry systems which allows them to protect the soil and the water sources, improving the biodiversity and reforestation of their lands.

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Certification: organic HN-BIO-123