Heirloom Cacao

Heirloom cacao is usually an older cultivar of the species which has been around for a long time, growing naturally, since before the prevalence of large-scale industrial agriculture. To be termed heirloom, the cacao has to have indigenous landraces with clear, documented regional provenance that should have remained relatively unscathed from commercial agricultural breeding for production.

While commercial cultivars are selected for their productivity and disease resistance, heirlooms are valued for their historical, botanical, geographical and flavour inheritance – which is the foundation for high-quality chocolate. Just as a precious jewel is handed down through the generations of a family, heirloom cacao connects directly to its earliest uses as chocolate. Its producers value the cacao trees and the lineage value of their beans. Like a hidden treasure of chocolate preserved in a chest for decades, these beans are today being rediscovered for their complexity of flavour. It is this unique flavour profile that can be used to attract higher market prices for these rare beans, allowing more revenue to be brought in by farmers cultivating them.

The fine chocolate industry today faces the grim reality of dwindling biodiversity of cacao trees. The Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative (HCP) is a collaboration between the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS). This initiative identifies and maps areas of high quality, flavourful cacao, and certifies the growers of these endangered trees with the objective of preserving and promoting heirloom cacao.