Öko-Caribe works with more than 165 small holder farmers near San Franciso de Macoris in the Duarte Province. The cacao is collected fresh and brought within six hours to their centralized fermentation station. The beans are then fermented in a cascading 4-box tier system for up to six days. Given the humid and tropical climate with frequent rains, Öko-Caribe uses solar drying tunnels to dry the beans.

The cacao is intercropped with for example bananas, avocado, zapote, oranges and buen pan. Overall, cacao cultivation currently covers around ten percent of the Dominican Republic's land area and the country supplies a major part of the world's organic cacao.

Öko-Caribe works very closely with its farmers who receive technical training as well as training in agronomical best practices. In addition, Öko-Caribe offers microfinance loans for cacao-related expenses, as well as personal loans for family emergencies or other community needs.

We started working with Öko-Caribe's beans in 2018. The beans have a high fat content and a very chocolatey character with notes of honey, nuts and red fruit. A very well balanced bean.

THE ORIGIN FACTS