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| Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity |
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03/02/2010 |
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Towards high quality cacao
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The state of Tabasco (in the southeast of Mexico) is the country’s main cacao producer, accounting for about 80% of total production. The top producing region in Tabasco is Chontalpa, a particularly suitable growing area and considered the origin of the Criolla variety. Harvesting of the cabosse (the pod-like fruit of the cacao tree), which begins in October and continues until March-April, involves the entire community and cacao cultivation is their only source of income. The farmers usually sell the cacao to intermediaries at very low prices, but with support from a local association (ATCO) some of them have begun to adopt alternative options. Donations from Slow Food members and convivia have helped to raise the capital needed to purchase equipment for processing the cacao and producers have begun to sell fermented and dried beans, fetching higher prices.
 The Presidium, which was started by Slow Food in September 2008, collaborates with the ATCO association in assisting small producers in Chontalpa, helping them to improve cultivation methods and better manage the fermentation and drying of cacao beans, which is crucial for obtaining high-quality chocolate.
Thanks to the support of the Slow Food Foundation, in December ATCO organized a two-day seminar on good practices for managing the cacao bean fermentation and drying process, involving about 20 producers.
The seminar was conducted by two academics at the Department of Agricultural Sciences of Juárez Autonomous University of Tabasco (UJAT) and consisted of theoretical lessons together with practical demonstrations of proper post-harvesting methods.
The course also presented basic chemical and physical analytical measurements which can be used to monitor post-harvest cacao quality.
“It is essential that producers understand the importance of every stage in cultivating, harvesting and processing cacao and that they make a personal effort to obtain a quality product” says Mariano Gutiérrez, ATCO coordinator.
The 2009-10 harvest will be the first cacao sold by the Presidium which has been produced following principles learned during the training course and it will be possible to sample the chocolate — produced by Trinci, artisan roaster of coffee and cacao and Technical Partner for the Slow Food Foundation — at the Salone del Gusto 2010.
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