A Look Into Cacao Farming in Guatemala

Members of Videri’s production team and partners from Cacao Verapaz next to a drying deck filled with fermented cacao

Our experiences in Guatemala

We’re huge fans of each chocolate bar we make, but it’s not an overstatement to say our production team is obsessed with one bar in particular at the moment: our Single Origin 75% Guatemala bar made with cocoa nibs from Lachuá — and with good reason! Not only is it delicious AND award-winning, but earlier this year a few members of our production team traveled to the very source of these cacao beans! The trip made us all appreciate the individual farmers even more once we saw firsthand how much of a labor of love producing super high-quality cacao is. And while we experience the positive impact of chocolate everyday at the factory, it was inspiring to see the positive environmental and economic impacts of cacao at the source.

Guatemala is the most populated country in Central America and is home to volcanoes, rainforests, ancient Mayan sites, coffee farms, and lots of cacao. This country is located below Mexico, borders Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador, and contains so much natural beauty.

One of the coolest experiences we had while in Guatemala was being able to share our chocolate with the farmers that grew the cacao. Their families prepared a special cacao drink for us all to enjoy while we passed around the Single Origin 75% Guatemala bar and our dark milk chocolate (which we happen to know is a real hit among the kids.) While cacao is used regularly in the region, farmers rarely get to try the smooth, creamy chocolate created from the cacao they’ve worked so hard to produce. We also found out while we were traveling that the 75% Guatemala bar won a Good Food Award and it was remarkable to be able to share both the bar and that news with our hosts while we were there. The whole trip re-fueled our passion for chocolate and is a lasting reminder of why the industry we work in is so special.

The Cacao Farming Process

Every region that grows cacao has its own challenges. In Guatemala, much of the cacao grows on mountain slopes - making the work of growing and transporting cacao even more labor intensive. The farmers we met were getting excellent yields of extremely high quality beans despite these conditions. From planting and caring for the trees, through the harvest and fermentation, producing high quality cacao is demanding and skilled work.

Cacao begins as a tiny flower and grows into a pod a little smaller than the size of a football, between 8 to 14 inches. Each pod contains anywhere between 20-50 cacao beans. Once the pods are harvested, the tops are cut off and all of the beans and fruity pulp are scooped out. The beans are then transferred to large wooden boxes to ferment until all of the flavors have developed and the pulp has dried. From here, the fermented beans are dried, then bagged up and shipped to our chocolate factory in Raleigh, NC. Then we begin the chocolate making process (which you can learn all about during a visit to our factory) and get it ready to be enjoyed in various ways. Thanks to these cacao farmers, we’re able to create chocolate bars, bonbons, soft serve ice cream, hot chocolate, and so much more.

How is Cacao Beneficial?

There are so many positive benefits from growing cacao. Cacao is a part of Guatemala’s forestry, not a monocrop. This helps their environment and the creatures that live there. So, while you eat a scrumptious bar of our chocolate….you are helping the environment that created that cacao!  

Cacao is also an economic help for the farmers, their country, and for us. Since other things can grow alongside cacao, intercropping means more profit for the farmers and a more efficient product harvest.

Not to mention, cacao is delicious on its own and only becomes more tasty when we take it through the chocolate making process. 

We are committed to making chocolate that is not only delicious, but also good for the environment and the people that make it (every step of the way). We choose to use the highest quality cocoa that is ethically sourced from around the world and prepare everything in house. These choices help to create a positive ripple effect around us - we have a positive impact on the lives of these cacao farmers, and they have a positive impact on the environment around them. If you choose to enjoy our chocolate, you share in this impact as well.

A big thanks to all the cacao farmers around the world for helping us make award winning, bean to bar chocolate.