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+--- Thread: Cocoa (/showthread.php?tid=3920)
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Cocoa - hpp4me - 09-14-2007
A question for a friend. If you wanted to grow cacao on the Big Island, what location/elevation would be best?
Are there any small scale cacao growers on the island?
Edited by - hpp4me on 09/16/2007 13:36:15
RE: Cocoa - David D - 09-14-2007
Here are some sites to visit:
http://www.hawaiicacao.com/
http://www.hawaiianchocolate.com/
http://www.originalhawaiianchocolatefactory.com/
From what I have read, Cacao will grow almost anywhere in Puna. Water/rain fall and soil are key, along with shade and elevation.
We are exploring the idea of planting about 5 acres in Cacao for the raw cocoa.
Good Luck!
David D
RE: Cocoa - Mitzi M - 09-15-2007
Cacao is native to the low jungles of southeastern Mexico down into the northern Amazon basin and so it grows best in warm, humid lowlands. It's an understory tree so it needs to be shaded by a pretty intact overstory to do well. I've seen it thrive in lower areas in Puna, say sea level to maybe 1,000 feet or so. However, I don't think it would grow or produce well in the higher elevations since the optimal temperature for cacao is a constant at or above 70 degrees. Also, cacao is susceptible to many fungal diseases, especially when grown in high densities. For this reason, most of the world's cacao is grown in small patches. I've read that there have been various attempts to produce it commercially going back to the 1800's on the BI. I believe CTAHR has been investigating cacao as a more sustainable crop, especially suited to abandoned coffee lands or interplanted with coffee. Since it must be shaded, it creates an opportunity to either preserve existing native canopy or encourage native regrowth while eliminating invasive trees on old coffee lands. In the right place it could be a good thing.
A friend recently told me about a couple who bought a large parcel of land up near Volcano, and supposedly they were planning to clear the land to plant it with cacao. I really hope these folks reconsider, because besides the fact that it's not a good environment for cacao, I think it's a real shame to clear native understory anywhere on the island. It's just as important to this ecosystem as the trees, but there is even less of it left. This year I harvested 6 pods from my 5 year old tree at 200' elevation (last year was the first year it produced and it made only one pod) I got maybe a little less than a pound of beans which I fermented, dried, roasted and then ground up with sugar to make a pretty darned yummy chocolate goo.
Aloha,
Mitzi
Uluhe Design
Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com
RE: Cocoa - hpp4me - 09-16-2007
Thanks for the info. I've done a little bit more digging...
Here is a great article:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_n4_v106/ai_19493100
It is said that in Hawaii yields tend to be about 4000 to 6000 lbs. per acre.
The current price seems to be around $1800/ton. That means that one acre might yield about $3600 to $5400 per acre.
Unless I've got the facts wrong, I wonder how a person can make a living growing cacao.
RE: Cocoa - hpp4me - 09-16-2007
Another link about the business of cacao on the Big Island:
http://starbulletin.com/2003/10/12/business/story3.html
http://starbulletin.com/2001/04/18/features/story1.html
Edited by - hpp4me on 09/16/2007 14:19:21
Edited by - hpp4me on 09/16/2007 14:26:58
RE: Cocoa - Mitzi M - 09-16-2007
Wow, that was a good article. Interesting about the midges. I was reading that the majority of commercial cacao is now produced in Africa. Maybe the seemingly low return amounts to something more like a living there.
RE: Cocoa - Kapohocat - 09-20-2007
Mitzi - Will it grow down here in Kapoho?
RE: Cocoa - hooligal - 09-21-2007
I visited Bocas Del Toro in Panama which has a very similar climate to Kapoho (right on the ocean, sunnyish with plenty of rain) & there was a huge cacao plantation there that did really well. they made damn tasty chocolate! granted, I originally went to see their pet Ocelot, but came away knowing I could grow my own cacao if I moved to panama
Cat, cacao on my list of things to plant so we'll find out how it does in kapoho soonish fwiw, I was going to grow coffeein panama too...talked to the owner of a large plantation. with coffee growers the elevation matters a LOT in the quality of the bean. there's some official grading of bean quality depending on the elevation where it's grown, something like over 3000 feet is better quality & fetches a higher price...not sure it the same is true in the cacao industry.
RE: Cocoa - hpp4me - 10-19-2007
quote:
We are exploring the idea of planting about 5 acres in Cacao for the raw cocoa.
Good Luck!
David D
David D, have you looked more into the economics of the cacao plantation you are thinking about starting? I'd be interested in learning more about what it would take to do this and make some money.
RE: Cocoa - nanawale hale - 10-20-2007
aloha,
i've lived in puna 20 years, nanawale, leilani, orchidland, paradise park, the best cocoa trees i grew and that friends were growing were in leilani. i lived on moku street in leilani and the rain, the amount of sun, shade, all that seemed to be just right in that spot and along moku street alot of friends grew cocoa and the trees were great, the cocoa itself was really big and healthy. It did alright in other areas, but leilani seemed to be ideal
nice meeting you
nanawale hale
nanawale hale