Innovation

Manos de Cacao began in 2015 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico given the need of having high-quality cocoa beans in the country. The purpose of the innovation is to train and empower communities in the growing of fine flavor cocoa beans which then can be commercialized in Mexico, exported to other countries and used as a raw material in the elaboration of chocolate in Monterey.

Altogether with the University of Chiapas and other partners, Manos de Cacao is committed to the economic and social development of communities in state of poverty located in Chiapas and Tabasco, states in the south-eastern part of Mexico with optimal conditions in the growing of cocoa. They help these communities to increase their productivity and the quality of their products while reducing inequalities by buying their cocoa at a fair and decent price.

Manos de Cacao exports to the United States about 80% of the cocoa beans produced by those communities while the other 20% is used in Monterrey to produce chocolate bars for its sale in Mexico, United States, and Japan. In the near future they plan to increase the impact of the project by adding more communities to the project while enlarging their international markets.

Inspiration

Chef Jorge Llanderal, leader of Manos de Cacao, was inspired to work on this innovation when he found out that Mexico was no longer producing "Fine Flavor Cocoa", which is a rare type of cocoa beans that has grown in Mexico before but its production has been decreasing. Llanderal mentions: "Cocoa varieties "Criollo" and "Trinitiario" are classified as Fine flavor cocoa and only 6% of world production consists of these types. Mexico used to be a supplier of those types of cocoa beans, but doesn't longer appear to be in that type of cocoa production".

When he learned about this, he and his team contacted the University of Chiapas, where they found Dr. Rolando López, a cocoa geneticist who has a wide knowledge on how to grow these types of cocoa beans. After meeting with Dr. López, Llanderal was later introduced to the cocoa growing communities of Rayen (located in the state of Chiapas) and Comalcalco (located in the state of Tabasco). When Llanderal and his team found these communities, they realized that their poor conditions in which the workers lived could be improved by helping them to increase their productivity and quality of the cocoa beans they produce.

In that moment, Llanderal knew that there was a great potential win-win project that could benefit the communities by achieving the goal of growing Fine Flavor Cocoa in Mexico. Since then they have formed an important partnership between the communities, Chiapas University and Manos de Cacao for the accomplishment of the three parties' goals.

Overall impact

Three years after starting operations, Manos de Cacao has helped around 60 families in Rayen and Comalcalco increase their productivity of kgs/hectare and also the quality of the cocoa beans they grow. Llanderal mentions during his interview: "People working in those communities were getting around 300 kgs of cocoa per hectare and were being paid $32 pesos per kilogram, since the start of this project their productivity has increased to 1,500 kgs per hectare, and since the cocoa beans quality is far better we are able to buy it at $120 pesos per kilogram".

This increase of cocoa bean production has helped Manos de Cacao use some extra raw material to produce their own brand of chocolate bars that serve as a new business model for the company. At the same time, to help this project in the long run, there are different types of trees being planted in the communities that will continue to improve the quality of the cocoa beans. This type of actions create a positive impact on the environment, on the communities and on the Company at the same time.

The results of the positive impact being generated by this project are clear now, but Chef Llanderal is hopeful that in the long term the benefits will increase due to the sustainable model of its business.

Business benefit

This innovation has helped Manos de Cacao in different ways but the main benefit is the quality of its product, by creating optimal conditions for Fine Flavor Cocoa to grow they produce a better chocolate. The improvements done in the technique and land in which people grow cocoa in these communities ensures that the company is working in a sustainable model. On the other hand it benefits Manos de Cacao final customers, which will be preferring this product over other suppliers because of the quality of the chocolate and because of the local origin of its cocoa.

Business relations with it's suppliers has improved since the suppliers of raw material are now being paid more for basically the same activities they did before and also are being helped by the company and its partners by increasing their productivity and the quality of their products. These actions strengthen loyalty between supplier and customer.

Manos de Cacao also benefits from the revenue generated by the commercialization of cocoa beans to other chocolate companies in Mexico, United States and Japan, which guarantees the continuity and the potential scale of the project.

Another important benefit for the company is the sense of fulfillment their employees have achieved by participating in this business by realizing the positive impact that they have generated in the people of the communities they are working with.

Social and environmental benefit

The main benefit of this innovation is for the people working in Rayen and Comalcalco because its productivity has raised and at the same time they are getting a better payment per kilogram, these effects have improved their living conditions substantially. The project of Manos de Cacao also has benefited them by the training and all the morale and technical support they have received in the growing of cocoa beans and the post-harvest processes.

Llanderal understands that this income increase could be overwhelming for the communities, so he also decided to help the communities with their financial administration by scheduling the payments in order for them to get a monthly steady income instead of a single payment for each harvest.

Besides the administrative support, Manos de Cacao and its partners are also helping the communities by showing them how to grow other trees that are benefitial for the environment of cocoa trees, such as banana trees, with a fast cycle for its short-term cash flow and timber trees for its long-term cash flow.

Llanderal is sure that these efforts will continue to have a positive impact on the communities by reducing unfair prices and promoting responsible production.

Interview

Jorge Llanderal Rueda, Manos de Cacao Founder