Each of Xoco’s chocolates can be traced to the specific farmer. We pay our partner farmers well above market prices for their better, single variety cacao. We buy all their cacao directly from the farm even when conditions are rough.
These 42 farmers contributed to this batch (MR191205)
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Copan · HondurasAntonio Maria73 years old
Short Story
Antonio is committed to his farm, where he spends most of his time. He grows coffee, beans and corn, but he can’t deny having a soft spot for his cocoa plantation - and there’s two reasons why. He loves that growing cocoa is friendly to the environment, but also because it has proven to be a good investment for him.
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·Jose Oswaldo61 years old
Short Story
My name Jose is dedicated to working the cocoa crop and also, together with my brother, we coordinate the benefit of the coffee in the town of Concepcion del Norte, Santa Barbara.
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·Reina Estelvina87 years old
Short Story
Reina has no less than 25 acres of land, and his farm has become a family business, where four of his kids have become responsible for each of their fields. Although they have many other crops than just cocoa, they are all very interested in the cocoa and especially likes to talk about how their Mayan Red beans will ultimately be used by some of the best restaurants in the world.
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·Angel Gabriel52 years old
Short Story
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·German Danilo75 years old
Short Story
German has just started to grow cardamom at the farm. His daughter just got married, so he hopes that he will be a grandfather soon. His wife tells him not to talk too much about grandchildren in front of their daughter, but it’s hard to keep it to himself.
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·Gil Jose64 years old
Short Story
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·Guillermo Arturo63 years old
Short Story
Guillermos farm is a true family business. He and his wife supplement each other really well, and their 2 kids are very interested in the farm and how the trees are developing. Each day, Guillermo gets up early in the morning, enjoys a cup of coffee before the hard work stars. The rest of the family wakes up later, but they always eat breakfast together.
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·Jose Candido62 years old
Short Story
I have been with xoco since it began in Guatemala, apart from cocoa I dedicate myself to my livestock and palm crops and more businesses, above all I love cocoa
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·Marco Antonio73 years old
Short Story
Marco and his brother Juan spend most of their time together. They run their farm together, they are neighbours and their wifes and kids spend a lot of time together. On the farm, the two brothers supplement each other very well. Their favorite month is May, when they are able to harvest a lot of cocoa.
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·Jose Ramon71 years old
Short Story
My name is Jose Ramón Pascua, a farmer with years of tradition and what better tradition than having a cocoa farm. Year after year I plant a little, thanks to Xoco I have managed to have my crop well due to the technical assistance it provides us.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasMaria Antonio62 years old
Short Story
Maria has been married to her husband for nearly 50 years. Together they share the same passion for their kids and grandkids.The best thing they know is when they get to spend time with them all. Every now and then the entire family is gathered at Maria’s home where they enjoy dinner and play games.
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·Juan Guilberto55 years old
Short Story
“The technical assistance that Xoco provides has been a great help to me”, Juan says. With the help from Xoco, Juan has been able to achieve a fairly high productivity, but he is not resting on his laurels. He wants to improve the farm further. Just like his local football team, there is always something you can do to improve and become a better version of yourself.
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Ilima · HondurasMirian Rene81 years old
Short Story
Over the recent years Mirian has increasingly been grafting and pruning the cocoa trees, as it will increase the productivity of the trees. Although it might not give any immediate results, Mirian understands that the future production will increase a lot. With 4 kids, Mirian is busy. But cocoa trees and kids are similar in many ways, she says. If you treat them well, and give them the best conditions to grow, they will become very strong and the hard work will most likely be compensated.
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· HondurasSantos Rene68 years old
Short Story
Since 2014 when Santos started working with Xoco, he has increasingly involved his daughter in the work, as he wants her to take over the farm some day. Luckily, her daughter can also see the value of having a cocoa farm, and she also enjoys being outside and in close contact with nature.
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· HondurasThomas73 years old
Short Story
Thomas has three employees at his farm, where he grows cocoa, coffee, lemon, bananas and rambutan. He is most fond of the cocoa plant due to the good influence it has on the environment and to the soil. When Thomas is not working at the farm, you are most likely to find him at a basketball course or in front of the television watching a movie.
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· HondurasRodolfo58 years old
Short Story
My main source of income is cocoa, my daughters practically study there
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· HondurasLufit Adonay49 years old
Short Story
Lufit has a small cocoa farm and handles it by himself. Besides the cocoa trees, he also has some fruit and banana trees and a small garden of vegetables. He loves to use the homegrown stuff when cooking for his granddaughter who lives with him and his wife. He has just been told that he will soon be a grandfather once again – and he is very excited about it. This time it’s a boy.
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· HondurasAngel Mauricio49 years old
Short Story
Angel prefers to plant new trees in June. The rainy days of July simply create the perfect conditions for the new trees, which need great amounts of water to grow. In the dry seasons, he gets to spend more time reading novels and spend time with his beloved wife and three kids.
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· HondurasMedardo56 years old
Short Story
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·Norma Aracely44 years old
Short Story
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·Juan Ramon58 years old
Short Story
Juan and his brother Marco, spend most of their time together. They run their farm together, they are neighbours and their wifes and kids spend a lot of time together. On the farm, the two brothers supplement each other very well. Their favorite month is May, when they are able to harvest a lot of cocoa.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasWilfredo
Short Story
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·Marciano80 years old
Short Story
Even though Marciano has the age to retire, he sees no point in that. He likes to work at his farm and learn new things. Right now, he is into grafting. He is still learning, but his grafted trees are making very fine results.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasJose Antonio69 years old
Short Story
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Santa Barbara · HondurasSantos Guillermo
Short Story
Santos is a strong father figure. He works hard, and spends a lot of time on the farm with his cocoa trees. Ideally he would like to spend more time with his 3 kids, but he knows that he is creating a better future for them by investing a lot of his time with the cocoa trees. His days commence at 6 am and do not end until 3 pm. After a long day's work, he likes to enjoy a pozole and spend time with his kids.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasGerman Concepcion50 years old
Short Story
On his birthday, a couple of years ago, German was given a special gift: New cocoa trees. Because of the great number of trees, he was not able to plant them all by himself. Therefore, he asked his family, who was invited for his birthday party, if they would like to help him at the farm instead of celebrating him. He remembers the day as one with quite hard work and a lot of laughs.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasManuel Antonio86 years old
Short Story
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Santa Barbara · HondurasJuan Angel76 years old
Short Story
Before Juan became a farmer back in 2010, after he and his wife wanted to try something else other than being teachers. They wanted something completely different, and they ended up with a combined cocoa and coffee plantation. They have never regretted it, and they are now able to employ Juan's brother and nephew.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasElan Ezequiel54 years old
Short Story
It’s been 11 years since Elan started working with Xoco. Back then he was very excited about being a part of the project. Today, more than a decade later, he still has that same feeling. He grows a large number of different crops, but his main focus is his cocoa plantation, and he is continuously experiencing improved results.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasVentura
Short Story
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Santa Barbara · HondurasJuan Jesus
Short Story
Juan is completely dedicated to his farm. In other words, it's his second home and he spends every day of the week in the fields. Even on Sundays you will see him walk around among his cocoa trees making sure everything is in perfect condition.
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·Mario Samuel67 years old
Short Story
Mario has been working in the fields since he was quite young, and in fact, his farm has belonged to his family for several generations. He has become very confident about the future of his cocoa trees, because the return seems to be increasing every year. It makes him happy to think that when his day comes, his kids will have a much more productive farm, than when he overtook it from his own father.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasWilmer Hipolito74 years old
Short Story
Wilmer has been involved in growing cocoa for over a decade, and he is grateful to be a part of the Xoco project. Recently, as many others, Wilmer has been in quarantine due to COVID. But it doesn't doesn't bother him too much, as he has been able to spend a lot of time with his family which is a rare thing for him, as he spends most of his awaken hours working at the farm.
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·Lizandro73 years old
Short Story
When Lisandro first began producing cocoa, he admitted that his method was based on trial and error. So admittedly, he made some mistakes, but he also became better very quickly. And now, it sometimes seems like the production is taking care of itself, he laughs. When he is not busy working on the farm or playing with his grandchildren, he enjoys reading the Bible:
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·Francisco Eduardo77 years old
Short Story
When Francisco was younger, he used to enjoy hunting and playing soccer with his friends. Now he’s investing all of his time in his farm, where he recently started a small project of growing cardamom. However he prefers cocoa and wants to invest more in it. He says the plant is good for the environment, but the maintenance is also rather simple once you know what and how to do it.
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·Daniel Antonio61 years old
Short Story
Besides cocoa, Daniel grows pepper, bananas and cardamom on his farm. He lives with his wife and their son of twelve years. Earlier, he used to play a lot of soccer, but he is now more into other forms of exercise. He is especially fond of spinning. After his workouts, he enjoys to calm down with
a good book.
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·Reinaldo Osman75 years old
Short Story
Having his older brother and some nephews helping him out, Reinaldo has turned his coffee and cocoa farm into a family business. The farm is located close to the city of Tegucigalpa, where Reinaldo has lived since the 1980’s. Before Reinaldo started working with cocoa, he worked as a teacher in an elementary school.
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·Mario38 years old
Short Story
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·Edward Antonio55 years old
Short Story
When Edward needs a break from the laborious work of pruning and weeding out around his cocoa trees, he tends to enjoy one of his homegrown bananas in his hammock. The banana energizes him: Not only physically but also mentally, it confirms his belief that his future self will benefit from the hard work he does now. And that is why he cares so much about optimizing his farm.
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·Sergio Alejandro57 years old
Short Story
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·Oswaldo60 years old
Short Story
Oswaldo's favorite dish is a fresh tortilla with cheese and beans. In addition to looking after his farm from 6 o’clock in the morning until noon, he has dedicated himself to voluntarily transporting students from his hometown back and forth between their educational institutions.
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Santa Barbara · HondurasAbelino57 years old
Short Story
Jose has high expectations for the future and his cocoa farm, and he is very happy to have Xoco as a partner. When he started working with Xoco in 2008, he hoped he could make a little more money for himself, and he is happy to have achieved that. Now, he aims at increasing his production even more.