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Fine Cocoa From Esmeralda

Cacao Nacional from Ecuador is also known as "Theobroma Cacao" or "food of the gods". The pods grow in the remotest regions of the country, including in small villages along the Rio Santiago and the Rio Napo. Theobroma's distinctive flavor is valued by chocolatiers around the world. The high demand helps cocoa farmers like Lilian and Cleofe develop a new, long-term and more reliable means of subsistence. Cocoa plantations also immensely benefit the environment: cocoa trees grow in mixed species plantations and thereby protect the rainforest. They represent an alternative to palm tree plantations that are highly destructive to the local environment.