Colombia
TUMACO
An elegant cacao with whiskey, tobacco, and malt notes -- high impact, crowd-pleasing, sweet and chocolatey.
2022 Data - Product
Quality: Ultra premium
Flavor: Chocolate ganache, apricot & whiskey
Fermentation Style: Box
Drying Style: Raised beds with a roof, solar dryers
Quality Practices: Sugar analysis of wet cacao at purchase point, temperature monitoring during fermentation, pH or sugar monitoring during fermentation, specific protocols for flavor, cut tests during fermentation
Hand Sorting: Sometimes
Number of awards in 2022: 12
2022 Data - Planet
Crops that are used for intercropping: Banana, plantain, citrus, timber, avocado, yuca, coconut, vanilla & guanabana
Environmental practices: Adaptation of traditional practices, recuperation of heritage cacaos and local forest tree
Hectares cultivated & managed: 3,071
Average percent of shade of cacao farms: 43%
Distance of producer to facility (km): 6
Distance to port (km): 827
Percentage of power from solar: 50%
Ocean freight CO2kgs per MT (US): 66
Ocean Freight CO2kgs per MT (EU): 145
2022 Data - People
Community-focused initiatives: Financial services, capacity development, infrastructure improvement
Trainings conducted: Farm productivity, ecological practices & cacao quality
Producers purchased from: 1,139
Female producers: 301
Producers under 35 y/o: 119
Total # of producers trained: 765
Total # of female producers trained: 248
Total # of producers under 35y/o trained: 146
Full time employees: 22
Full time female employees: 22
Part time employees: 14
Part time female employees: 8
Average farm size (ha): 3.3
Average sales per producer (dry kg): 240
Average annual cacao revenue per producer: $583
The predominantly Afro-Colombian population has faced a great deal of prejudice and sustainable local development has been extremely difficult.
When Cacao Hunters first explored the region back in 2011, they found cacao everywhere; drying on any flat surface farmers could find, including the road. The sheer volume of cacao was overwhelming, and the opportunity for quality and systemic improvement was obvious. Cacao Hunters has worked with six community cooperatives to introduce centralized processing and drying. Because of the introduction of centralized processing and Cacao Hunters’ expertise in high-quality flavor development, farmers today earn 70% more income from cacao than they did when selling dried beans to the commodity market supply chain, and have a true sustainable alternative to.
TERROIR
The region of Tumaco rests on the western coast in the southernmost part of Colombia. Cacao is endemic to Colombia, and interesting native varieties can be found in the Tumaco region. The associations in Tumaco have been doing research with the University of Nariño to identify native cacao genetics found in the region. After years of study, they’ve now narrowed down nine genetic varietals that they believe are the native cacaos of that region, and are maintaining a clonal garden to eventually farm seedlings to distribute widely to more farmers in their networks. Many cacao producers in Tumaco have refused to plant new genetics promoted by government and development programs, and as a result the Tumaco cacao offers a distinct and chocolate-forward profile.
Pictured to the left are local genetics at the ASPROCAT clonal garden.
The predominantly Afro-Colombian population has faced a great deal of prejudice and sustainable local development has been extremely difficult.
When Cacao Hunters first explored the region back in 2011, they found cacao everywhere; drying on any flat surface farmers could find, including the road. The sheer volume of cacao was overwhelming, and the opportunity for quality and systemic improvement was obvious. Cacao Hunters has worked with six community cooperatives to introduce centralized processing and drying. Because of the introduction of centralized processing and Cacao Hunters’ expertise in high-quality flavor development, farmers today earn 70% more income from cacao than they did when selling dried beans to the commodity market supply chain, and have a true sustainable alternative to.
TERROIR
The region of Tumaco rests on the western coast in the southernmost part of Colombia. Cacao is endemic to Colombia, and interesting native varieties can be found in the Tumaco region. The associations in Tumaco have been doing research with the University of Nariño to identify native cacao genetics found in the region. After years of study, they’ve now narrowed down nine genetic varietals that they believe are the native cacaos of that region, and are maintaining a clonal garden to eventually farm seedlings to distribute widely to more farmers in their networks. Many cacao producers in Tumaco have refused to plant new genetics promoted by government and development programs, and as a result the Tumaco cacao offers a distinct and chocolate-forward profile.
Pictured to the left are local genetics at the ASPROCAT clonal garden.
Notable Awards
2023 Gold
International Chocolate Awards
Pictured is Edilmer Figueroa from Cacao Hunters evaluating cacao