Cacao and Business

Kakaobohnen

As a business, cacao functions much like other commodity materials. There is a vast distance between the people that produce the raw cacao, and the finished bars. In many cases, cacao farmers have never tasted chocolate, and beans which they sell by the pound will be retailed as finished products at much higher prices. Lately, there has been a rise in the establishment of small bean-to-bar operations who are attempting to close the gap between producer and product. Getting this sort of operation up and running is costly and requires much attention to detail, but it is being done. The Grenada Chocolate Company was founded with the intention of being a cooperative between cacao farmers and chocolate makers and runs from one location in Grenada. Similarly, Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate was started with much assistance from its cacao farmers, and functions in close cooperation with them. The bean-to-bar business model seems fairly ready for the addition of permaculture design systems. Cacao grows ideally in jungle environments, with a layer of shade, and could be established within a food forest that produces many other materials. It could easily be integrated into a healthy permaculture system and refined on-site at an equipped farm.

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