Guatemala
ADEMAYACH
A small Q'eqchi' community working together on a remote piece of land accessible only by swing bridge over the Cahabón River.
2023 Data - Product
Quality: Ultra Premium
Flavor: Brownie, Candied Lemon, Orange & Jasmine
Fermentations Style: Box
Drying Style: Solar Dryers
Quality Practices: Temperature monitoring during fermentation, pH or sugar monitoring during fermentation, specific protocols for flavor fermentation
Hand Sorting: Yes
Certifications: Organic
Number of awards in 2023: 8
2023 Data - Planet
Crops that are used for intercropping: Plantain, palm & timber
Environmental practices: Soil conservation
Organic hectares cultivated: 21
Average percent of shade of cacao farms: 40%
Distance of producer to facility (km): 6
Distance to port (km): 450
Ocean freight CO2kgs per MT (US): 49
Ocean Freight CO2kgs per MT (EU): 137
2023 Data - People
Trainings conducted: Farm productivity, ecological practices & cacao quality
Producers purchased from: 18
Female producers: 9
Producers under 35 y/o: 5
Organic producers: 27
Total # of producers trained: 20
Total # of female producers trained: 8
Total # of producers under 35y/o trained: 7
Full time employees: 1
Part time employees: 2
Average farm size (ha): 1.2
Average sales per producer (dry kg): 100.79
Average annual cacao revenue per producer: $308.2
An association producing ultra-premium cacao, 100% farmed, fermented and dried in the area of San Juan Chivite of Lanquín.
The community of San Juan Chivite is based entirely within a 180-hectare cacao farm, abandoned by its owner during the terrible Guatemalan civil war in the 1980’s and handed over in 1985 to the 65 families who were former workers of the farm. In 2002, the families converted a portion of the farm that was formerly coffee over to cacao, and as the community has grown from 64 to 125 families today, cacao cultivation remains the source of over 90% of the community’s income. The village and farms are accessible only by swinging bridge over the wide, rushing Cahabón river; to sell cacao, association members carry 100-lb sacks over the bridge on their backs. In 2016, chocolate maker Goodnow Farms invested a donation into ASOCHIVITE (now called ADEMAYACH), enabling them to construct the village’s first centralized fermentery and drying decks, and sparking catalytic growth and development in the region including the installation of electricity for the village in late 2016.
TERROIR
Surrounding the river basin of the Rio Cahabon the land cultivated by this community of growers is located in the lowest alitutde of the regon. Their cacao regularly sells out both in the US and EU markets because the quality and flavor produced by the small community is excellent. Besides cacao, the region exports coffee and cardamom and grows abundant corn and black beans for the local market. The association earned organic certification in 2016 and in collaboration with Cacao Verapaz exported its first lots in the same year.
An association producing ultra-premium cacao, 100% farmed, fermented and dried in the area of San Juan Chivite of Lanquín.
The community of San Juan Chivite is based entirely within a 180-hectare cacao farm, abandoned by its owner during the terrible Guatemalan civil war in the 1980’s and handed over in 1985 to the 65 families who were former workers of the farm. In 2002, the families converted a portion of the farm that was formerly coffee over to cacao, and as the community has grown from 64 to 125 families today, cacao cultivation remains the source of over 90% of the community’s income. The village and farms are accessible only by swinging bridge over the wide, rushing Cahabón river; to sell cacao, association members carry 100-lb sacks over the bridge on their backs. In 2016, chocolate maker Goodnow Farms invested a donation into ASOCHIVITE (now called ADEMAYACH), enabling them to construct the village’s first centralized fermentery and drying decks, and sparking catalytic growth and development in the region including the installation of electricity for the village in late 2016.
TERROIR
Surrounding the river basin of the Rio Cahabon the land cultivated by this community of growers is located in the lowest alitutde of the regon. Their cacao regularly sells out both in the US and EU markets because the quality and flavor produced by the small community is excellent. Besides cacao, the region exports coffee and cardamom and grows abundant corn and black beans for the local market. The association earned organic certification in 2016 and in collaboration with Cacao Verapaz exported its first lots in the same year.
2023 ADEMAYACH Farmgate Price
$3.06 USD
This is the actual price paid to the cacao producer for their product (typically on a per kg or per lb basis) when they sell it to the first buyer. Farmgate price is often paid for "wet" or fresh cacao, recently harvested and scooped out of cracked pods for sale. Wet cacao loses 60-70% of its weight during fermentation and drying, typically reaching 7-8% humidity before it is sold.
Uncommon calculates farmgate price for each cacao supplier based on the specific weight loss conversion percentage provided to us by the supplier, and we report farmgate price on a per kg dried equivalent basis for all cacao beans we source.
2023 ADEMAYACH Association Price
$3.72 USD
This is the price the exporter pays the association for cacao.
In some cases in our supply chain there is an organized group of producers that aggregate cacao and sell it to an exporter.
Pictured are Gerardo Coc, Carlos Caal, Pedro Acte, Gerber Caal, Salvador Xuc in front of one of the association's facilities.
2023 ADEMAYACH FOB
$5.77 USD
This is the price paid by Uncommon to our partners for cacao transported and loaded onto a ship for export.
Uncommon then covers all of the costs of shipping, freight charges, insurance, import, domestic logistics, warehouse ingestion, customs and duties.
Free on board (FOB) is an international shipping term that represents the seller's responsibility for bringing the cacao over the rails of the export ship.
2023 ADEMAYACH Average Sales Price
$9.67 USD
This is the weighted average price per kg for cacao sold to the premium & ultra premium chocolate makers who purchased it during this year from Uncommon Cacao.
Notable Maker Awards
2023 ICA Bronze & Silver
Flavor Profile
Brownie, Candied Lemon, Orange & Jasmine
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