The price for organically grown cocoa products is nearly 4 times higher than non-organic cocoa. Organic cocoa is being bought for the high end single bean malt whiskies in Europe and the USA. In addition to growing cacao trees, the farmers in Venezuela are also producing their own chocolate.

Nearly half the day is spent nurturing the trees, protecting them from pests, insects and bad weather. Using only natural compost instead of man made fertilizers is twice the work, but well worth it to the Venezuelan cocoa farmers. The price of conventional cacao beans was $2.00 per kilogram, now they receive $7.00 per kilogram, quite an increase.

Their products are now sold directly to foreign chocolate manufacturers, eliminating the local intermediaries who have been priced out of the cacao market. Fifty families have banded together to create an association of organic cacao farmers.

The cacao seeds are fermented for six days in large wooden boxes then sun dried on the cement patio of the association building. After that they are cleaned, sorted, weighed and put into sacks ready for export. During the rainy season a flood can wipe out the entire crop a river bursting its banks can destroy several acres or trees in a few hours time.

In the last three years the annual cacao production has doubled, and the owners believe it is due to the conversion to organic farming. The majority of the funding to start this program came from the Venezuelan government who has provided 10 million dollars in research and training. In addition the European Union has been funding them through a non-government organization called Tierra Viva.

America, France and Italy are all purchasing organic beans in Venezuela, the single bean origin label denotes aroma and purity and only Venezuela can offer that at this time.

THE AMAZING LURE OF CHOCOLATE:

There are very few foods bring out the passion of chocolate, going beyond a love of sweetness as in most candies and desserts, not many people crave caramel, bubble gun or whipped cream. Chocolate is different, for a true chocoholic thinking about chocolate brings on a pleasurable reaction.

The first time I saw one of the yellow-green pods hanging from the trunk and large branches of a cacao tree, I was reminded of a movie about body snatchers, where pods were secretly placed in the vicinity of the victim and turned into the person, effectively snatching the persons personality. Cacao pods do look a little alien after all. The hand-sized pods, once stripped of their outer layer contain a sweet white pulp, which is the actual fruit of the cacao tree, cacao means food of the gods.

Inside the pulp you will find the seeds (a dark purple color) which are the basis for cocoa or chocolate. It is unusual for a person to get the pleasure of sampling the fruit of the cacao tree; it has a mild subtle chocolate flavor, slightly bittersweet. After drying and processing they are recognizable by any chocolate lover as chocolate beans.

A native of Central and South America, the cacao tree cultivated around the equator and is found in Africa, South-East Asia, the Caribbean and even in Samoa and New Guinea. Rorastero, which accounts for almost 90% of the worlds production of cacao beans, is the most common of the cacao trees.

The rarest and most highly valued is the Criollo cacao tree; their aroma and delicacy are sought out with care and great expense by the worlds best chocolate makers. Trinitario is a cross between the Rorastero and Criollo trees and is used by many of the leading chefs.