Fertile Ground

Puentespina’s Malagos farm joins list of int’l heirloom cacao producers

Best known for the well-loved and award-winning Malagos chocolate, the Puentespina Farm recently became the first in the Philippines to join the list of recognized “heirloom” farms by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative (HCPI).

Rex Victor P. Puentespina, Malagos Agri-Ventures Corp.’s farmer and chocolate maker, said they are “truly grateful and deeply honored” to receive the Heirloom Cacao Designation.

To become designated ‘heirloom cacao’ is an incredibly high standard to meet,” he said.

Heirloom cacao: what it means

According to Puentespina, heirloom cacao is “the foundation of great chocolate.” For trees and beans to be considered heirloom variety, different factors — such as its cultural, historic, geographical, botanical, and flavor value — are typically examined.

Launched in 2012, HCP was launched by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Fine Chocolate Industry Association as a non-government group tasked to “identify and preserve fine flavor or ‘heirloom’ cacao varieties for the conservation of biological diversity and the empowerment of farming communities.”

HCP’s list currently consists of 16 recognized heirloom farms mostly from Latin American countries, two from the African continent, and one other from Asia, Vietnam.

Puentespina said they want other cacao farmers to realize the earning potential of cacao and how they too can produce world-class chocolates. He also added that raising this kind of awareness would be able to uplift the lives of farmer and encourage the growth of an entire industry.

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