The Organic Chocolate Revolution by Carmen SanDago

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The Organic Chocolate Revolution
by Carmen SanDago

The cocoa industry in Venezuela is

seeing a big comeback as farmers

in that country are going organic.

In recent years the news from

Venezuela was more about oil and

politics than anything else,

however, chocolate is now taking

over. The price for organically

grown cocoa products is nearly 4

times higher than non-organic

cocoa. Organic cocoa is being

bought for the high end single

bean malt whiskies in Europe and

the USA. In addition to growing

cacao trees, the farmers in

Venezuela are also producing their

own chocolate.

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Nearly half the day is spent

nurturing the trees, protecting

them from pests, insects and bad

weather. Using only natural

compost instead of man made

fertilizers is twice the work, but

well worth it to the Venezuelan

cocoa farmers. The price of

conventional cacao beans was $2.00

per kilogram, now they receive

$7.00 per kilogram, quite an

increase. Their products are now

sold directly to foreign chocolate

manufacturers, eliminating the

local intermediaries who have been

priced out of the cacao market.

Fifty families have banded

together to create an association

of organic cacao farmers.

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The cacao seed are fermented for

six days in large wooden boxes,

then sun dried on the cement patio

of the association building.

After that they are cleaned,

sorted, weighed and put into sacks

ready for export. During the

rainy season a flood can wipe out

the entire crop a river bursting

its banks can destroy several

acres or trees in a few hours

time. In the last three years the

annual cacao production has

doubled, and the owners believe it

is due to the conversion to

organic farming.

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The majority of the funding to

start this program came from the

Venezuelan government who has

provided 10 million dollars in

research and training. In

addition the European Union has

been funding them through a

non-government organization called

Tierra Viva. America, France and

Italy are all purchasing organic

beans in Venezuela, the “single

bean origin” label denotes aroma

and purity and only Venezuela can

offer that at this time.

Thank you,

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Author's Biography:

C. SanDago used to be an office and motel cleaner earning minimum wage on a contract by contract basis, working very hard to make ends meet. Being forced to stay at home after her baby, she says it was like a

Posted on: April 1,2008

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