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LET'S PRESERVE CACAO

Why It Is Crucial to Preserve Original Cacao

Cacao is the fundamental ingredient in every chocolate product, but rising global consumption has consistently outpaced production capacity. With annual demand increasing by over 3%, this gap is expected to deepen. This expansion puts immense pressure on farmers to produce ever-higher yields.

Cacao trees are already under strain due to factors like aridity, various diseases, the extinction of natural habitats, and exhausted soil capacities. Compounding these environmental challenges, many farmers lack the necessary workforce and heavy-duty equipment, often without sufficient government incentives.

The Rise of Modified Cacao

To overcome these production hurdles, scientists have modified the cacao plant to be more resistant to drought and disease. These modified plants yield significantly larger harvests than original varieties, but at the cost of a proportionally reduced bean flavor.

With organized financial support from entities like USAID, many farmers feel compelled to cultivate these modified varieties instead of their original, local ones. Due to this shift and the initiated cultivation of cacao in non-native countries, more than 70% of the world’s cocoa production now comes from Africa.

While renowned Swiss chocolate producers prioritize the original, flavorful varieties, companies like Mars have been developing GMO cacao varieties in Brazil for years, claiming that modifying 70% of cocoa is inevitable for the industry's survival.

Degradation of Native Habitats

In South America, efforts have inadvertently damaged the original cacao's native habitat—the central tropical forest. Under the stated pretense of preventing the cultivation of coca leaves in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, and promising farmers equivalent profits, USAID provided local Amazon farmers with free hybrid cacao plants.

This seed stock was falsely presented as a variety created by the late Ecuadorian scientist, Homer Castro. The USAID cacao is genetically modified and bears no resemblance to the original Castro variety. As a direct result, Ecuador, once a producer of the world's finest quality cacao, now exports 80% modified beans, a variety they produced none of just a few decades ago.

The Price of High Demand

The relentless increase in demand for chocolate—which often corresponds with rising rates of obesity and depression—has indirectly endangered the survival of original cacao varieties. Their low yield is simply insufficient to satisfy the ever-rising global appetite.

Where even common chocolate once possessed great natural flavor, today's flavor deficiencies are often compensated with artificial flavors, frequently derived from GMO soybeans and corn. Given these changes in our food supply, the deterioration of modern health should not be a surprise.

The situation with cacao reflects a pattern happening to almost all the foods we consume. We genetically modify food to resist drought, disease, or insects, while simultaneously destroying their biodiversity, natural habitats, and the soil composition that supplies them with essential nutrients.

Saving cacao and its original varieties will prevent further degradation of our planet and preserve its exquisite, divine taste.

Our Commitment to Original Cacao

Try our new product, Nuestra Maca Cacao, made from Peruvian maca extract and wild native Criollo cacao—renowned for its original aroma and unique flavor.

By purchasing this product, you are directly helping the survival of the Asháninka tribe, which collects these god-given beans exclusively for our blend.

(Find it by clicking on our webshop.)