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The Uncommon Cacao Blog

Heat scorched cacao trees under an agroforestry canopy
belize

Let's stop calling this a "price crisis"

(pictured above: heat scorched cacao trees under an agroforestry canopy) I cried at my desk last week over climate change. Have you, yet?  I have been working in Belize since 2010, when I foun...

An update on Cacao Verapaz

An update on Cacao Verapaz

Dear friends, When we started Cacao Verapaz in Guatemala in 2014, the country had not exported cacao in over a decade. Fermentation and drying centers had been sitting abandoned in rural villages a...

geneticsWhat is the best cacao in the world... and why is this a complex concept?

What is the best cacao in the world... and why is this a complex concept?

The Complexities of Cacao Selection, Production and Process: Is the best cacao innate or acquired?  Cacao, with its rich history spanning millennia, is the product of labor intensive cultivation an...

marketWhat is going on with cocoa prices? Part 2

What is going on with cocoa prices? Part 2

Just a few months ago in November 2023, we wrote a widely-circulated post detailing some of our observations at Uncommon Cacao around what were at that time the highest cocoa futures price...

What is going on with cocoa prices?

What is going on with cocoa prices?

What’s happening with commodity cocoa? Commodity cocoa futures prices are at levels we haven’t seen in decades, with NY ICE futures trading at well over $3,900 per metric tonne (MT) the week of wri...

2022 Transparency Report

2022 Transparency Report

After months of conversations and collaboration, our 2022 report is now live!

Wild Cacao from Bolivia and HCP

Wild Cacao from Bolivia and HCP

Collaboration intent on supporting fine flavored cacao in Bolivia

Balancing and Growing Relationships in Peru

Balancing and Growing Relationships in Peru

We honor our long term relationships with producers and are committed to exploring new ones.

Mid-year supply chain updates

Mid-year supply chain updates

Mid-Year Supply Chain Updates June is here, so that means we are already well into the peak purchasing season for cacao, and in some countries the harvest has already wrapped up. This year has thro...

Guatemalan Cacao Growers Have Grit!

Guatemalan Cacao Growers Have Grit!

Cacao Verapaz was founded in 2014 in Guatemala as a sister company to Maya Mountain Cacao of Belize and as a part of the Uncommon Cacao Group. Cacao Verapaz began by supporting local associations i...

Generations of Cultivation in the Philippines

Generations of Cultivation in the Philippines

Kablon Farms is a 70-hectare biodiversified farm owned and operated by multiple generations of the Pantua family in Tupi, South Cotabato. The family recognizes their work as part of a long cultural...

PISA is Devoted to Haitian Cacao

PISA is Devoted to Haitian Cacao

Bringing an accessible and bold flavor to the cacao world isn’t the only thing Produits Des Iles SA (PISA) is doing. PISA launched their centralized processing facility in 2014, which was a revolu...

Transparency and Accountability in Uganda

Transparency and Accountability in Uganda

Latitude Trade Co. (LTC), founded in 2016, is a vertically integrated certified B Corp in Uganda sourcing from more than 4,664 certified organic smallholder producers, 2,266 (49%) of whom are women...

The Inspiring Fortitude of Tumaqueño Cacao

The Inspiring Fortitude of Tumaqueño Cacao

Tumaco is a complex and unique cacao origin. The region has survived a challenging history of colonialism, enslavement, and narco-trafficking. The realities of this history have created challeng...

Recap! Chocolate Week(S)

Recap! Chocolate Week(S)

One of the ambitions Uncommon Cacao has is to give specialty chocolate makers a transparent connection to the cacao they work with and love. Few chocolate makers have the time or travel budgets fo...