Traceability from the farm
OUR OWN OPERATIONS
Xoco Gourmet owns and operates its own farms in Central America. Our main farm in Nicaragua is designed as a modern fruit orchard with high density planting, irrigation, and spacing to allow a small tractor to move between the rows. We continuously monitor the plants, water, and soil to provide the trees with the nutrition they need.
We share the knowledge we develop with our partner farmers via our team of technicians. Pruning, irrigation, and nutrition are pivotal elements in ensuring a good harvest.
We have planted all our trees from a selection of high yielding, autocompatible trees. Our target yield is more than two tonnes of cacao per hectare, compared with the average smallholder farmer’s yield of around 400 kilos per hectare.
Our farm is the only one of its kind in Central America and we hope it serves as an example in showing other farmers how to grow single-variety cacao that is well balanced with nature.
PARTNER FARMERS
In Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, we have planted Mayan Red & Tuma Yellow cacao trees with our partner farmers. We graft and early grow the young cacao trees before they are sold and transported to the partner farmers. We provide technical assistance to each farmer on planting, growing and how to get a good harvest yield. At harvest time, we organize and collect the cacao beans. These are found in a white pulp inside the cacao pod. After the harvest, the pod is opened and the pulp with the beans is extracted. It is this sweet pulp that ferments and thus indirectly the beans. After collecting the beans in their pulp in sealed milk containers, we transport them to our fermentation and drying centers. Xoco takes care of the fermentation, drying and sorting of the cacao beans.
PARTNER FARMERS
In Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, we have planted Mayan Red & Tuma Yellow cacao trees with our partner farmers. We graft and early grow the young cacao trees before they are sold and transported to the partner farmers.
We provide technical assistance to each farmer regarding planting, growing and how to get a good harvest yield. At harvest time, we organize and collect the cacao beans. These are found in a white pulp inside the cacao pod. After the harvest, the pod is opened and the pulp with the beans is extracted. It is this sweet pulp that ferments and therefore indirectly the beans. After collecting the beans in their pulp in sealed milk containers, we transport them to our fermentation and drying centers. Xoco takes care of the fermentation, drying and sorting of the cacao beans.
Xoco Gourmet pays producers a price that is significantly higher than the market price. In 2021, the average price paid was 1.5 times higher than the highest "fair trade" price and more than double the average local price.
We buy all the cacao from the farmer all year round from the farm.
Unlike "fair trade", where only cacao that can be resold by the buyer is purchased. In this case, the farmer has to deal with the rest of the cacao on his own.
Buying from the farm also eliminates logistical problems that prevent the farmer from getting to the market. This is valuable in places where transportation is scarce, expensive and difficult.
We pay partner farmers for a better product. Xoco takes on the market risk so farmers can focus on the crop.
Our technical assistance program also helps farmers modernize their farming techniques, which has a positive effect on other crops they can grow.
Xoco's approach is an example for the chocolate industry:
The industry needs to up its game and get more involved in cacao farming. cacao should be planted like any other fruit, for its taste and variety.