Cacao: From bust to boom (Second of Three Parts)

Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
Davao Region’s reputation as a source of quality cacao beans is growing, not just in the country but in other parts of the world as well.
Lester V. Ledesma, in an article which appeared in Smile, the in-flight magazine of Cebu Pacific, wrote: “Today, select beans from Davao reach customers in the United States and Europe through huge, high-end chocolatiers like Switzerland’s Barry Callebaut and commodity brokers like London’s Armajaro.”
“Dry, like a full-bodied well-aged red wine.” That was how Shawn Askinosie, founder of the world-famous Zingerman’s Deli, described a Philippine dark chocolate bar, 77% made from Davao cocoa.
Last year, the Academy of Chocolate, Britain’s leading chocolate professionals gave “Malagos Premium 100% Unsweetened Chocolate,” a Davao product, a bronze award for the Best Unflavoured Drinking Chocolate category.
“This goes to show that our base chocolate (cocoa liquor) can compete side by side with other chocolates around the world. As far as I know, this is a first for the Philippines,” Rex Puentespina, the marketing director at Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation, was quoted as saying.
Chemically speaking, “chocolate really is the world’s perfect food,” to quote the words of Michael Levine, the author of The Emperors of Chocolate. As Geronimo Piperni puts it: “Chocolate is a divine, celestial drink, the sweat of the stars, the vital seed, divine nectar, the drink of the gods, panacea and universal medicine.” 
Chocolate has recently been included in the A-list of antioxidants – up there with soybeans and green tea. Antioxidants, or flavanols, help protect the body from damage caused by pollution, pesticides, smoking, and processed foods.
“Chocolate and health do not seem to fit together but it is a very interesting proposition: if I can eat something I like and it is good for me, that is great,” said Hans Vriens, chief innovation officer of Barry Callebaut, which conducted a study. “Chocolate is probably at the bottom of the list when you think about making food healthier.”
But eating dark chocolate every day for 10 years could reduce the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes in some high-risk patients. A team of researchers from Australia used a mathematical model to predict the long-term health impact of daily dark chocolate consumption in 2,013 people with a condition known as metabolic syndrome, which puts them at high risk of heart disease.
The team found that in the best case scenario – with no patient missing any daily portions – the treatment could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal heart attacks or strokes per 10,000 people over 10 years.
The study was published in the British Medical Journal. The researchers, however, stressed the protective effects have only been shown for dark chocolate containing at least 60 to 70 percent cocoa—not for milk or white chocolate. This is probably due to higher levels of flavonoids in dark chocolate.
But experts not involved in the study urged caution. “Recommendations for daily consumption of dark chocolate … will certainly get people with metabolic syndrome excited, but at this point these findings are more hypothetical than proven, and the results need real-life data to confirm,” said Dr. Kenneth Ong at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in the United States.
Now, imagine a world without chocolate? That’s probably unlikely. But on second thought, the supply is getting less and less since the demand is getting bigger and bigger.
“Since the early 1900s, there is increased demand of about three percent year-on-year,” Blyss chocolate founder Alyssa Jade McDonald-Bartl was quoted as saying byPhilippine Star. “But keeping pace with the growing global demand is proving to be no easy task. Without empowering and investing on small-scale farmers, the chocolate industry – from the world’s biggest chocolate makers to the new players – will struggle to provide supply to meet the demand.”
Chocolates will always be around as long as there are cacao trees growing. The demand can be met only if more farmers will be growing them. In the Philippines, there are three varieties of cacao grown: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario.
The Spaniards brought Criollo to the Philippines in the 18th century. It is very susceptible to most pests and diseases of cacao. However, it is the most sought-after and expensive variety of cacao because of its quality and rarity. The variety, which can be found only in Ecuador and the Philippines, is also known as “porcelana cacao” because of its seed’s white color. When provided the proper attention and care, it can yield an average of 1.5 to two kilograms per tree under Davao condition.
Forastero was introduced to the country in the early 1990s by the Americans. This variety is known for its sturdiness and wide adaptation. It shows varying degrees of reactions to the pests and diseases of cacao, ranging from highly susceptible to resistant.
Trinitario reportedly comes from Trinidad, credited for hybridization between Criollo and Forastero plants. Many Trinitario selections produce high quality beans (from the Criollo parents) and possess the resistance and vigor of the Forastero parent.
The research done by the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) has singled out Mindanao as “, is among the areas in Asia seen to have a competitive advantage for cacao production given its strategic location, climatic conditions, and soil characteristics.”
In San Isidro, Davao del Norte, farmers are planting more cacao trees – in addition to what they had planted decades ago. In 2004, the local government unit declared cacao as its main product.
“Our farmers have prevailed over the test of time,” says Dante R. Muyco, Jr., one of the staff of the CSI Trade Ventures. CSI or Chokolate de San Isidro, Inc. was formed in 2006, incorporating farmer cooperatives, local investors, marketers and cocoa liquor or tablea-producing households.
“Cacao is the reason why our town is progressing,” says Muyco, who presented their experience during the Philippines Cacao Development and Investment Workshop held some years back. “We send our children to school because of cacao. There is peace and order in our town because of cacao. There is business because of cacao.” (To be concluded)