Bringing an accessible and bold flavor to the cacao world isn’t the only thing Produits Des Iles SA (PISA) is doing.

Through private sector innovation, PISA partnered with farmers to give them what they really needed: pricing transparency, a consistent market, and an elimination of risk. Today, PISA still provides smallholder farmers access to the specialty cacao market by purchasing wet cacao, centrally fermenting it, and selling it at a higher price for its higher quality. PISA is poised to bring affordable organic beans to the craft chocolate market with an approachable flavor profile of classic chocolate, blueberries, caramel, and vanilla. We partner with PISA to support systems change and reduce structural inequities in Haiti, while acknowledging that the end goal for economic justice has yet to be met and will require long- term partnership across the chocolate value chain.

TERROIR

Haiti has a perfect climate and terrain for the production of cacao, and shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, which is well known for extensive organic cacao cultivation. The island has faced significant deforestation in recent decades, and the Haitian practice of growing cacao in biodiverse “Creole gardens” offers a critical opportunity to support reforestation and preservation. Cacao in Haiti is often intercropped with coconut, plantain, mango, palms, root crops, and a wide variety of other plants. Producers in PISA’s network cultivate an average of 1.1 hectares of cacao, which may be spread across multiple smaller plots in different locations.