Dom. Republic Conacado Organic + Fairtrade

Region and Country

Gaspar Hernández, Espaillat Province, Dominican Republic

Story

CONCACADO was founded in 1988 by small cacao farmers and gradually grew into a multi-tiered organization comprised by 9 producer federations known as ‘bloques’. These bloques represent in total 152 small farmers’ associations with more than 8.700 members. About 60% of the total exports of this organization are Fairtrade certified.
The premiums received are used to provide field training to farmers and to develop social projects in its small rural member communities including construction of sanitary facilities, schools, health clinics and roads. CONACADO also invests in the improvement of its members’ productivity which has had a very positive impact in the average yield of the cacao farms.

Harvest

April – July (main harvest) October – January (mid-crop)

Genetics

Dominican cacao is a mixture of different genetic varieties: Jamaican, Amazon Amelonado, Ecuadorian Nacional, Venezuelan Criollo and Rio Caribe, and Trinitario hybrids.

Post Harvesting Process

Fermented cacao in the Dominican Republic is known as Hispaniola. This cocoa is fermented 5 days in tiered wooden boxes. After fermentation, the beans are dried for two days in solar tunnels and afterwards moved to artificial dryers to finish the drying process.

Flavour

Powerful cocoa base with notes of brown fruit, sweet marzipan and coconut.