Products and Services

Tree Reproduction

Xoco is the first company in the world to embark on a large-scale reproduction of the rare Criollo and Trinitario tree types that produce flavor cocoa. In Central America, these types of trees are almost extinct and only encountered in very limited quantities on remote and isolated farms. Xoco has segmented the tree types and carefully tested their beans for the superior flavor attributes used by manufacturers to make award-winning gourmet chocolate. The beans are truly exceptional, producing a complex long-lasting sensation of fruit and floral notes. Some of the Nicaraguan varieties offer unusual spicy flavor attributes. The trees that meet Xoco’s painstaking selection criteria are then naturally reproduced by grafting in large nurseries in the three countries were Xoco operates. In the nurseries, buds from the selected “mother trees” are grafted to seedlings. This process is especially delicate in the high volumes reached by Xoco. Over the past several years, Xoco has gradually trained personnel and innovated techniques. Today Xoco boasts the largest cocoa grafting program in the world.

Nursery in Sebaco, Nicaragua.

A Xoco specialist carefully grafts the bud of a superior “mother tree” to a seedling in Honduras.

After the graft sets, the young tree matures in the nursery until it is ready for planting on the farm.

A Xoco mother tree, encountered in a remote location in Honduras.

Technical Assistance and Farm Management

After about six months, the young “offspring” of the “mother trees” are ready to leave the nursery and be delivered to their new owners. The farmers who acquire the fine cocoa trees have all entered into an exclusive joint-venture with Xoco. The farmers grow and harvest the trees, while Xoco guarantees a premium price, and takes care of collecting the beans and all post-harvest processes. This is a win-win situation that helps farmers dramatically increase their income and break out of the poverty all-too-common among rural subsistence communities in Central America. Outgrower farms are concentrated in carefully selected microclimates minimizing risk for disease. Passion for quality is a common value for Xoco and our outgrowers. For farmers, quality means applying the best growing practices. Xoco provides an comprehensive technical assistance program to farmers with a clear set of norms.

Fine cocoa plantation maturing in the care of a Xoco outgrower. Copan, Honduras.

A two-year-old Xoco fine cocoa tree beginning to bear fruit.

The Xoco team provides technical assistance to our fine cocoa farmers.

Xoco monitors its fermentation with utmost care, adhering to strict protocol that takes into account each batch’s genetic and climatic variation.

Post-Harvest Process and Export

Some 2 to 3 years after planting, the young fine cocoa trees start to produce pods. Each pod contains 30-40 cocoa beans. After collection, the beans are fermented, dried and prepared for export. The fermentation process is of the highest importance to extract the flavor potential of the beans. In collaboration with global leaders in the field, Xoco has developed specific and proprietary fermentation protocol for each bean type. Much pioneering work is still ahead to develop and master what in the past has been a rough and unsystematic process conducted in a variety of ways from estate to estate. Fermentation is conducted in wooden boxes over a period of 4-7 days depending on the bean type and other environmental factors. During fermentation, temperature and pH values are carefully monitored. Subsequently, beans are dried beneath the tropical sun. The drying process aborts fermentation and lasts until bean moisture content reaches requirement for export. The beans are subsequently packed into dry sacks, stored and eventually exported to chocolate manufacturers. Each manufacturer employs its own chocolate-making process that further helps release the sensory potential of Xoco’s beans, offering a unique product in the gourmet marketplace.

Example of best practice rooftop sun-drying.