Meet the Costa Rican Farmers
Ever since I began working with chocolate, I longed to visit a cacao farm. My first experience in Ecuador, a few years after I opened my shop, only stoked my desire to see as many farms as possible.
I’ve since visited Colombia and Costa Rica, discovering the differences of each country’s cacao production. I’ve learned from each experience, but it’s Costa Rica that has become a second home. In fact, I’m now a proud honorary member of the Upala Organic Cacao Growers Cooperative.
Cacao is embedded into the fabric of Costa Rica. Until it was eclipsed by coffee in the 1700s, cacao was a leading export. And with good reason—Costa Rican cacao beans have wonderfully deep flavor. Growing cacao was a dependable way of life for many families.
That all changed in the early 1980s. A disease called monilia swept through the plantations. In little over a year, cacao production was at 5% of previous levels. The cacao life was largely abandoned, replaced with pineapple, rice, sugar cane and other crops. This came at a cost to both the environment and culture. Cacao is one of the few crops that co-exists with other trees and wildlife. It sustains rather than damages the environment. When the diseased trees were cut down to make way for other crops, it displaced the habitat of howler monkeys, sloths and birds. Rural families struggled to find work for their children, who increasingly moved to the capitol and largest city, San Jose.
Hugo’s farm and rebuilding cacao
On my first trip in spring 2008, I met Dutch farmers Hugo and Hubertien Hermelink. They own FINMAC, a model cacao farm located near Villafranca, in the north central region. The climate is hot, swampy and it seems to rain continually. Here, thanks to a reintroduction of cacao trees, a riot of nature competes for your attention—howler monkeys and sloths hang from trees while parrots squawk overhead.
Hugo’s father, Ben, planted the first hybrid trees on his farm in 1985. After Ben’s death, Hugo took over the management of the plantation and continued to develop disease-resistant tree clones. He employs 28 people, providing fair wages and quality housing. The farmers’ children go to a nearby school. His farm produces organic beans and he’s dedicated to sustainable farming practices and intelligent mechanization. Hugo reaches out to small farmers and cooperatives to help them revive cacao in their regions.
Hugo and I struck up a friendship on that first visit. He told me that two researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison were just at his farm. A week after I returned home, the researchers showed up at my shop, wondering what a chocolatier from Madison was doing at a farm in Costa Rica. It is, indeed, a small world.
Upala and a different kind of cacao farm
The researchers, Chris Vaughan, now Director of Costa Rican Programs for the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, and Ray Guries of the UW Department of Forest Ecology and Management, were at Hugo’s farm as part of the Wisconsin-Costa Rica Chocolate Initiative. The program is funded through the Milwaukee Public Museum, UW-Madison and the USDA. The Initiative studies biodiversity in cacao agroecosystems and helps small farmers in Costa Rica produce and market fair-trade organic cocoa beans without damaging the surrounding rain forests.
In talking with Chris and Ray, we discovered a shared interest in sustainable farming, biodiversity and fair wages. Chris invited me to join him on his next trip to visit Upala, an area on the border with Nicaragua. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.
It was an entirely different experience than the large farms I had visited. Hugo has quality housing for his workers and a more mechanized process for harvesting and processing the beans. Upala’s farms are more typical of South America. The farmers live in very modest houses. It’s subsistence living. Their farms are typically less than 10 acres and everything is done by hand. You see a lot of abandoned cacao trees. The farmers may produce a small amount of beans from the few healthy trees, but not enough to earn a decent living.
Through funds from Dagoba Organic Chocolate and the Wisconsin program, a group of farmers formed the Upala Organic Cacao Growers Cooperative to try to change the dynamic. For about five years, under the direction of Geovanny Herrera Valverde, area students and farmers have been working to create new disease-resistant trees, which have been planted among the approximately 80 participating farms. The goal is to plant up to 240,000 cacao and native trees over the next four years to improve economic opportunity, restore native biodiversity and preserve habitat. It takes three to five years for a cacao tree to produce pods, so the Upala farmers are just beginning to see the fruits of their labor.
Geovanny used to work for Hugo and has an encyclopedic knowledge of cacao in the region. He’s responsible for the majority of the cacao grafting and he’s working with the farmers to teach them how to keep good records. On my first trip, I gave him a laptop to help with his efforts. He had configured it and created spreadsheets by the next morning. Amazing. He’s working closely with the Cooperative’s president, Edwin Arista, a well educated and passionate advocate for cacao in the region. Edwin’s sisters are in charge of one of the Cooperative’s nursery. There are several nurseries, including one at the home of the Fernandez family, my hosts, and another at one of their brother’s farms just down the road. This is where the hard work of creating new disease-resistant trees is taking place.
Tasting real chocolate for the first time On my first visit to Upala, I did a single-origin chocolate tasting for the Upala farmers and families and students from the local high school. I brought fine quality chocolate from other nations as well as two samples from Costa Rica. They had never tasted the end product. The farmers peppered me with questions about proper fermentation, fair trade, and prices for organic beans. They were engaged, enthusiastic and I knew that I could help make a difference in Upala.
I brought a box of my truffles for my host family that July. Marina carefully held onto it, refrigerating it for five months, then slicing it into small pieces for her eight children and extended family to share on New Year’s Day. It made me so aware of the disparities in our lives and wanting to do more.
I returned to Upala twice in 2009. In January, I brought a tempering machine, bar molds and other equipment to conduct a workshop for what I thought would just be four of the women. When I arrived, there were 18 people waiting to learn to make chocolate, including Marina. They hope to be able to earn money making fine Costa Rican chocolates to sell to tourists.
On my most recent trip, in July, I conducted another workshop and chocolate tasting for the leaders of the Cooperative. Edwin made me a honorary member of the Cooperative. It’s a recognition that means a great deal to me.
A better way of life
As dark chocolate increases in popularity, larger chocolate manufacturers are increasingly interested in these farmers’ wonderful beans. There’s a potential to bring back a way of life that is good for all involved, not exploitative or damaging to the environment. Within 5 to 10 years, when the trees are productive, Costa Rica is going to be a hot market for cacao. What the farmers and their families do now will set the stage for better lives for their children and a strong new tradition of cacao.
Geovanny, Edwin and the many hard-working farmers of the Cooperative have become friends. As a newly minted member of their Cooperative, I’m tied to them in profound and lasting ways and share their goal of helping the cacao growers in Upala.
After my workshops, the women of Upala are trying to work out the logistics of making chocolate. It’s a hot, humid climate, making conditions difficult, but there are seeking out an air-conditioned place to work. I hope to help them in any way I can and will continue to return to Costa Rica, sharing my knowledge of the end product and its marketing. Both in Costa Rica and in the U.S., I’m passionate about helping women reach their potential—just as other women have helped me.
For the cacao growers of Upala, there is a growing realization that they have opportunities. They may be isolated, but there are connections to the world available to them. I will keep going back to Hugo’s farm and Upala, where I’ve met others who share my passion for chocolate and sustainable living. I’m proud to use their chocolate and be a small part of this renaissance.
