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Kochumuriyil Joseph Varghese has been growing cacao since the 1980s – the time when a few international companies “encouraged farmers to grow cacao and later termed the beans low quality”. “That was all a tactic to control the prices,” says Varghese, who is also the founder and president of Cocoa Producer’s Co-Operative Society, Manimala, Kerala. The 1990s saw farmers give up cacao for the more fruitful rubber. “Then again by 2000s, the price of rubber went down. And, people started thinking about multi-cropping,” Varghese adds. “Then the price of cacao went up, and for the last 10 years it is on the rise.”

From ₹120/kg a decade back, ₹180/kg some five years back, to starting 2024 around ₹250-300/kg and going all the way up to ₹1,000/kg around April, Varghese says the price of cacao beans is steadying around ₹500 a kg now and is not expected to come down.

Boyapati Venkateswara Rao’s farm is in the country’s highest cacao-producing area – Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari region. As per the DCCD 2023-24 data, Andhra Pradesh leads among the four cacao-growing states, which include Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Andhra has the largest area under cacao – 43,904 hectares, with a production of 12,135MT and a 1,200 kg/hectare yield.

Rao has been growing cacao for 15 years on his 12 acres and has gone fully organic in the last 10 years. “In the two districts of West and East Godavari, where cacao can grow, under oil palm or coconut, it is already being cultivated in 95% of the place. The remaining 5% may also be covered this season,” says Rao. He is now not only selling all his produce to Distinct Origins Cacao Fermentery in Tadikalapudi but is involved in every step of the growing, harvesting, and fermenting process to see the fruit of his labour reach optimum flavour.

The farmers of the region, however, are giving more attention to cacao. “The yield of cacao is lesser when grown under oil palm, owing to its thick canopy, as compared to cacao grown under coconut. Now, the farmers here are reducing the density of their primary crop – oil palm, to increase the yield of their secondary crop – cacao,” Rao adds. He was also able to add another 100kg to his average yield of 200kg of dried beans per acre this season and increase his income three times.

Growth ahead

“A big reason was the price hike,” points out Chaitanya Muppala, CEO, Distinct Origins and Founder, Manam Chocolate. Course correction he calls it. “The Indian farmer benefited because unlike in West Africa, where the GDP is dependent on this crop and the prices are regulated by the governments, here it is a cash crop.

”So, when global commodity markets crossed $10,000 per metric ton, farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana could only get $2,400/MT even after a 50-60% price correction by their governments. “Our farmers sell directly. They get up in the morning and check the markets,” adds Muppala. “The farmers had been disadvantaged for decades. It is only since a short while that they have been getting fair prices.”

This might even spur Tamil Nadu to move up the production table. An hour and a half away from Coimbatore, the nondescript town of Pollachi has been putting Indian cacao on the world map for quite a few years. Karthikeyan Palanisamy and his brother-in-law, Harish Manoj Kumar, grow cacao on almost 200 acres and use it to produce artisanal chocolates.

“There is ample scope to increase the acreage,” Palanisamy says. As per the 2022-23 numbers by the Coconut Development Board, Tamil Nadu grows coconut on 4,72,710 hectares. Only 32,580 hectares (2022-24) are intercropped with cacao. “Even in and around Pollachi, only a small percentage of coconut farms grow cacao. There is a lot of scope. Given the suitable climate here, there are several thousand acres of coconut farms that can be intercropped with cacao. So, we'll have to wait and watch. If the prices stabilise at a higher level in the next few months, we will see more farmers planting cacao here too.

”And, to aid the farmers, research institutes like Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) have been working on a lot of scientific production technologies, management practices, and processing procedures. “They have even come up with varieties which can survive different climatic conditions,” Dr. Femina says.

KAU is also set to release six more clones to farmers, in addition to 15 already being used. The forastero-type clones are said to be best suited to tropical conditions and have the potential to yield five to seven kg cacao beans per tree. The current average yield is 1.5-2 kg; and the global average is 0.5kg.

Under Process

But the Indian cacao farmer might just be aiming higher. Processing is the next stop, says cacao consultant, chocolate expert, educator, and maker, Nitin Chordia. “Not just cacao, but every food processing industry in India is on a growth trajectory right now,” says Chordia, who along with wife Poonam, founded Cocoashala, a bean-to-bar incubation centre and training institute.

He adds, “It is the post-harvesting processes, spruced up with the help of technology, scientific monitoring of pH, moisture, sugar levels, and automation, that helped Indian cacao get global recognition in the last few years. And, we will see that in the next five years, a lot of farmers will aim to move into processing cacao as it is a more advantageous proposition.

”With Indian cacao quantity being minuscule in the global equation, such financially viable ideas are the only way to a sustained growth. As Palanisamy rightly points out, “It would be in India’s best interest to develop our own craft-profit market. Growing just commodity-grade cacao leaves all very susceptible to large fluctuations in price.” The high-quality flavoursome beans for the craft chocolate markets have traditionally fetched anywhere between three to 10 times the price of commodity beans.

Muppala agrees. “It is essential that the farmers keep making more profit. For that, we need to stay at the premium end of the spectrum. India already has that absorption capacity. And, our problem in that market is not the price, but the supply,” he says.

And, unlike West Africa, which has also been struggling with sustainability and ethical labour practices, India’s fair practices could just play their part in global conscience helping it gain a further foothold.

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