(pictured: Juan Echevarria on his cacao farm in Puerto Rico)
Mike Albertini, Director of Operations at Uncommon Cacao, visited our partners at Hacienda Jeanmarie in Puerto Rico in January 2025. He are so inspired by the resurgence of the cacao industry in Puerto Rico, and super excited to share the report from his trip:
Hacienda Jean Marie is leading a renaissance and resurgence of the cacao industry in Puerto Rico. Juan Echevarria (pictured above), the visionary leading the movement, is literally growing the industry from the ground up. Up until 2009, cacao cultivation on the island had all but disappeared in place of more profitable crops and industrialization.
The Spanish introduced cacao to the island during colonization in the 1500’s & 1600’s, most likely with varieties from cacao-producing regions such as Venezuela and other Caribbean nations, according to Juan. While interest in cacao was mostly catering to the European elite, in the 1700’s & 1800’s the Spanish transitioned cacao farms into tobacco, coffee, citrus, sugarcane, and other crops that could be farmed more intensively. As a Spanish colony, most of the agricultural production was to supply the Spanish military. Cacao was not as profitable as these other crops because it couldn’t be harvested on a large scale with machines, and hurricanes caused crop losses that drove many farmers away from their land. In the 1900’s and 2000’s more Puerto Ricans moved into office jobs. By the 2000’s cacao farms had essentially disappeared from the island.
In 2009, Juan noticed that the growing conditions in Puerto Rico were ideal for cacao. He questioned why Puerto Rico was importing goods like chocolate, when it could be grown and produced on the island. He felt this was inefficient and didn’t make logical sense. Working closely with the Tropical Agricultural Research Station (TARS) in Puerto Rico, Juan began to identify and cultivate cacao based on favorable traits such as flavor, productivity, pod size, and bean size. Through this selection process, Juan was able to choose the varieties that would eventually become the backbone of the diversity throughout the island.
Magnificently, there are no diseases on the island up to today (knock on wood!), and the biggest pests are rodents, which still aren’t a major issue. Puerto Rico has a unique competitive advantage as part of the United States. There are very strictly enforced regulations on what is permitted to enter the island, which provides an extra layer of protection. Anything that enters the island is subject to USDA inspection for disease and material inspection. This means that the entire industry is being reborn with only the JM clones that Juan developed with TARS.
Juan considers his farm his laboratory, with over 40 different varieties of cacao on his farm. He is now grafting these varieties and distributing them to 500-600 farmers around the island, based on flavor and productivity. Juan has worked with chocolate makers to evaluate specific clones using sensory analysis. For example, the JM-16 clone has notes of cilantro!
When Hurricane Maria came in 2017, many of Juan’s trees were only 2 years old, and they survived 130 mph winds for 16 hours when other crops failed!
Juan has already planted 1 million new trees in Puerto Rico, and wants to plant another 1.5 million more. There are a lot of young people, many second generation Puerto Ricans, moving back to Puerto Rico these days. Many of the new farms established are planted on old or abandoned coffee farms. Farmers are interested because cacao offers steady income through year round production, as compared with coffee which is primarily harvested once a year in September (during hurricane season!). From a workforce perspective, this is also more attractive because there is year-round work, unlike the seasonal work with coffee.
Hacienda Jeanmarie (Jean for Juan and Marie for his wife, Maria) have two farms where they grow cacao. One is right at their house/hacienda and is about 3 acres, this is more of a demonstration farm/laboratory where he grows the seeds from TARS. The other larger farm is about 70 acres. Both are excellent examples of agroforestry and permaculture. The larger farm is very hilly, and Juan has implemented terracing to prevent erosion. There are plentiful other crops interplanted such as guava, soursop, pineapple, cassava, yucca, plantains, bananas, papaya, and others. His goal is to develop a farm that is resilient due to biodiversity, and also commercially productive.
It is important to note that we are all very lucky to have access to this exquisite cacao from Puerto Rico – not only because of the challenges Juan and the growers have worked through to get to where they are today, but also because Juan uses the vast majority of the cacao he grows to produce his own chocolate products. His brand Jeanmarie Chocolat is available in supermarkets across Puerto Rico, and demand is growing quickly. We completely stand behind and support the work that Juan is doing to build demand for the cacao of Puerto Rico locally, and recognize that the export market will likely always be a lower priority. As a result, we won’t know for sure each year how much cacao we will be able to bring in – it will depend on how chocolate sales are going locally.
Building a business is hard, but (re)building an industry is immense. Juan is a true visionary, and is making the strategic investments, building the connections, eliminating the barriers, and providing the motivation for farmers across Puerto Rico (and the world!). Juan and his growing group see the opportunity and are committed to making it happen. We are beyond honored to have the opportunity to partner with Hacienda Jeanmarie to bring their truly exquisite cacao to you, and to support Juan and his community in this work however we can.
Jeanmarie cacao from Puerto Rico is currently available at our US East Coast warehouse only. Learn more about Jeanmarie cacao from Puerto Rico here; buy samples here or 30 kg wholesale here!
