Agro-Industry Trailblazers of the Dominican Republic’s emblematic organic cocoa industry

Grupo Conacado is the country’s leading force in the production, processing, and marketing internationally-certified and ecologically sustainable premium cocoa.

The fact that the Dominican Republic is today one of the world’s largest exporters of organic cocoa is due in large part to Conacado’s pioneering efforts and sustained innovation. Since 1985, when the Confederation of Dominican Cacao Farmers (Conacado) was born from the cooperation of the German and Dominican governments, Conacado has striven to transform the industry and produce top quality organic cocoa. They currently export around 70% of their production to Europe and 30% to the United States, and are actively opening trade markets in Asia, particularly Japan. “We started as an NGO at a time when international cocoa prices were very low and producers were practically abandoning the crop. We began working on certified organic cocoa production and that produced a huge change. By increasing quality, we were able to raise domestic prices and make the cocoa market more competitive both internally and abroad” assures Mr. Isidoro

De la Rosa, president of Grupo Conacado.

Grupo Conacado’s methodology combines the latest technology with traditional harvesting methods to ensure the premium quality of their products.

First, working with around 10.000 small producers and a team of over 50 technicians specialized in sustainable cocoa cultivation, they implement an ecologically-sustainable agroforestry system that has been historically implemented in the Dominican