Episode 5 - Cacao growing

Cacao growing runs in families' lives through generations.
A lot of parameters need to be aligned to get the most productive harvest: land organization, location, region but also about passion and patience, as its maturation takes 180 days.

  • Marcos Cruz, Rancheria Paso de Cupilco, Tabasco Mexico 
    Some people had one hectare, half a hectare, or two hectares, that’s how we started to expand cocoa farming. Marcos Cruz, Rancheria Paso de Cupilco, Tabasco Mexico 
  • ​​​​​​​Luz Maria Saurin, Mishki Cacao, Chazuta, Péru 
    We didn’t know how to prune it, how to graft it so that it could give us a good production. We had the cocoa, but it was wild cocoa. ​​​​​​​Luz Maria Saurin, Mishki Cacao, Chazuta, Péru 
  • Wilbert Phillips, International expert on cacao, CATIE Turrialba, Costa Rica
    The seed is the product we market. Really, the whole global chocolate industry depends on it, and therefore, its protection and the amount of pods formed define, basically, how successful a producer will be. Wilbert Phillips, International expert on cacao, CATIE Turrialba, Costa Rica

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