Cacao could boost Pacific economies

WELLINGTON – A New Zealand chocolate maker says Pacific nations have the potential to compete with Central and South America as producers of high grade cocoa beans.

Cacao exports from this region have typically been used for general confectionary for which quality is not so important.

The Wellington Chocolate Factory’s Gabe Davidson, recently shipped a tonne of cocoa beans from Bougainville to New Zealand.

He told Radio New Zealand’s Pacific Beat the Bougainville- grown beans are top notch and Pacific countries should explore growing cacao for craft chocolate makers.

He said the Bougainville cacao growers were previously getting the same price regardless of the quality of their produce.

“Local grower James Rutana is very passionate about high quality beans but was on the verge of giving up when I met with him,” Davidson said.

“He could not see the point in putting all this effort into growing these unique varieties, and high yielding varieties – and naturally pest resistant varieties – when he was just going to get just seven kina per kilo which is about NZ$3.50.

“He had no idea there was a new revolution in chocolate – like what happened to speciality coffee when people start talking about single origin – the same thing’s happening to chocolate.

“So there are loads of smaller and medium sized chocolate factories who are making chocolate from the bean, opening up around the world.

“It’s James’ dream to prove agriculture is a sustainable alternative to reopening the mine which was at the centre of their civil war, so I think agriculture for Bougainville is definitely the way forward.

“He has written an entire economic plan for Bougainville around this and focusing mostly on cocoa but also the crops that you can grow as shade crops above the cocoa – there’s nut trees and also he’s growing rice in between some of the cocoa as well.

“He has an economic plan which can potentially bring an extra three billion kina per year into the Bougainville economy which will give them their independence. The difficulty is getting his message out there.

“Typically craft chocolate makers will source cacao beans from Central and South America but actually anywhere 15 degrees north or south of the equator you can grow cocoa.

“So we’ve released a Samoa bar, we’ve explored cocoa in Solomon Islands. We’re looking at an opportunity to start a small plantation of a single variety in the Cook Islands and obviously Bougainville.

“Papua New Guinea is getting more well known for its cocoa and other craft chocolate makers are starting to get some PNG mainland cocoa varieties out there too.

“So there’s no reason why we can’t work with these farmers in the South Pacific to try get the quality up to the standard that is for example, Peru or Venezuela, which are known around the world to have these really unique characteristics.

“So that’s what we’re trying to do – to find and work with the farmers, these new and interesting strains of cacao and showcase them to the rest of the world.”

- Dateline Pacific