Helping rebuild Mexico’s cocoa industry

In the early 2000s, cocoa production in Mexico declined dramatically, due to disease, ageing trees, and farmers switching to more profitable, easier-to-manage crops like maize. However, in recent years there have been attempts to revive a sustainable cocoa industry in the country, supported by the Mexican government and ECOM’s largest clients.

Over the last decade, more than 1,000 producers have been provided with cocoa varieties that have a higher tolerance to disease to promote increased production.

ECOM’s nursery can produce up to 500,000 tolerant, high-quality cocoa plants and agroforestry trees each year for dispersal to farmers. We also offer producers training to assist them in growing the new varieties, which can contribute to increased income for farmers and a long-term future for Mexican cocoa.

A clonal collection garden in Chiapas is testing over 17 different varieties of cocoa to understand which fare best in different conditions and which are disease tolerant. Through this work, ECOM is helping pave the way for profitable and fruitful cocoa production in Mexico.