Davao: Cacao Capital of the Philippines
The Philippines’ obsession with chocolate has evolved, improved, and become stronger through history. However, it was just recently that the local chocolate industry has taken off, and business is booming. Now, you may probably be thinking, what is the key ingredient in this sudden success? Well, the simple answer is cacao but not just any cacao. It is the cacao that comes from Davao Region, which has been dubbed as the Cacao Capital of the Philippines.
Davao City is the Chocolate Capital of the Philippines
Yes, you read that right. On May 27 of 2021, former President Rodrigo Duterte signed R.A. 11547 which officially made Davao City the chocolate capital of the country. On the other hand, Region XI (Davao Region) officially became the Cacao Capital of the Philippines.
The Davao region, which is home to the award-winning local chocolate company Malagos Chocolate, accounts for over 80% of the nation’s cacao harvest. Can you imagine? It has almost 20,000 hectares of cacao crops, with Davao City having the greatest area at 6,060 hectares.
Furthermore, back in 2015 to 2019, the city was a consistent large producer of cacao beans in the whole Davao region, generating a total of 2,289.74 metric tons. Those are massive numbers!
Through The Years
Through the years, Davao has taken delight in pushing the Philippines to the forefront of the international market using its ultimate weapon, the finest cacao beans befitting of worldwide interest and respect. A similar story just like that of Taytay Rizal being the garments capital of the Philippines!
Davao’s quality and quantity of cacao beans made the Philippines a most sought country for chocolate makers from around the world like Japan, Europe, and the United States. In short, we are beloved by these countries for our cacao goodies.
What contributed to the success of Cacao production in the region? The answer to that lies in the solid leadership of former Davao Mayor Sara Duterte. On top of that, the Department of Trade and Industry’s initiatives to advance the cacao sector became a big factor in the production of quality cacao beans.
With the current success of Davao in cacao production, it may not be a far-fetched dream that one day it may become the Cacao Capital of the World! Now that sounds a lot better, don’t you think?
