Cacao growers expand production

With its organic cacao fetching prices well above the world market, the Toledo Cacao Growers Association is looking to dramatically increase production. A proposal has recently been approved by the organisation Trees for the Future, to assist the T.C.G.A. to establish nurseries in both the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts. That assistance, which includes seeds for various shade trees as well as tools, will eventually double the lands under cacao cultivation and allow seventy-three small farmers to plant two acres each. This should double the annual crop from its present sixty-five thousand pounds with plenty of room left for future expansion. The market for organic foods, particularly cacao, is expanding much faster than supply. Toledo cacao is now the prime ingredient in a popular European gourmet chocolate bar called “Maya Gold”.