Cocoa by sail : A cocoa from Mexico
04/12/2018
Tabasco is not only a small bottle filled with spices! It is also a state in the southeast of Mexico!
It is now proved that the Tabasco area was the cradle of the cocoa culture in Central America and maybe the place where the chocolate drink was created… The Chontal Mayas developed there the cocoa production to make it the first production state of the country. In the 16thcentury, the annual production was estimated at around 175 tons. Nowadays this state produces 33 000 tons.
The production essentially stretches over the central-west of the state, from Tacotalpa, in the south, up to Paraiso, along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico in the North. Since the 19thcentury, Forastero type cocoa trees have been the main culture. They were introduced because they were more resistant than Criollo cocoa in these areas.
The cooperative CACEP from Tabasco area
The CACEP cooperative is located in the north of Villahermosa, a city from the south of Mexico and capital city of the state of Tabasco.
CACEP is a big rural farm (HACIENDA) founded in 1963 by Juan Cacep Peralta. Since 1987, the engineer Vicente Alberto Gutierez Cacep has become the owner. In addition to its social commitment, CACEP wishes to rescue one of the most famous type of cocoa: Criollo. It involves making the rural population aware of sustainability in the plantations and living with the environment and trying to improve their quality of life.
