It’s 7 am. A mist hangs over the open, rolling terrain. On the Guaracara Tabaquite road leading to the Rio Claro in southeastern Trinidad, scattered grooves appear on the hillsides. The forests harbor teak trees that cover the road. This pristine landscape is interrupted by concrete buildings – houses, a police station, schools, bars, old cocoa houses peeking through the trees.
Travel signs at various points indicate “Lots for Sale” – evidence that this is a place in transition, a space between the old and the new. Here, the Rio Claro Demonstration Station stands like a great house on the hill.
Situated on what was once part of the Agostini estate, it is a center for teaching and experimentation. Since the 1950s, the station has been a breeding ground for cacao – including the world famous Trinitario, Imperial College Selections (ICS) and Trinidad Select Hybrids (TSH) developed by William Freeman. Here, there are plots that are still affectionately referred to as “Freeman’s plots”.
“Much of the cocoa breeding research done at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, now UWI (University of the West Indies) and the Ministry of Agriculture in Centeno was brought to the station for evaluation,” explains my guide Kamaldeo Maharaj. “Varieties that performed well were propagated and sold to farmers across the country.” His wealth of knowledge comes from over 20 years as an agricultural officer and board member of the Trinidad & Tobago Cocoa Development Company.
With this rich history and deep agricultural roots, it is clear how Rio Claro and the surrounding area have become so distinctive in Trinidad’s award-winning cocoa industry, gaining international recognition. In 2017, at the International Cocoa Excellence Awards, Rio Claro was ranked in the top 50. Since then, Rio Claro estates have consistently placed in the top 15 in the National Cocoa Awards, a testament to the enduring heritage of cocoa here.
In previous conversations I had had with Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan and Dr Darin Sukha, director and researcher respectively at the UWI Cocoa Research Center (CRC), I remembered them explaining that it is the “terrorist effect” that makes these cocoa beans Like that. unique and sought after.
For cocoa – as with fine wines – the flora, fauna, microclimate and soil of the neighborhoods in which the beans are grown give it its aroma. Beans from Rio Claro are described as raisins and fruity, while similar varieties grown in Moruga have a nutty flavor, or a floral flavor in Lopinot.
The cacao trees at the station are short and closely spaced, providing shelter – but the shade is deceiving. In tropical humidity, it is swollen. Seeing cacao pods clinging to the bark of the tree brings back memories of sharp pulp-covered seeds; sticky liquid on fingers; cheeks that hurt from sucking them, two at a time. i smile It didn’t smell like chocolate, it didn’t taste like chocolate, it didn’t look like chocolate at all.
I am brought back by the scent of shadon ben – a familiar scent, wafting as the great leaves fall underfoot. Rio Claro, I also recall, is the center of all shadon beni production in Trinidad & Tobago. Nearby, a worker is enjoying a freshly picked orange, cut in hand, ready at a moment’s notice to continue the day’s work.
“Cocoa is never a primary crop, always part of a mixed cropping system in this country, providing farmers with a diverse income,” explains Sukha. “[It] it makes economic sense for smallholdings producing microlots [with an] ecological balance, where you are not withdrawing or exploiting a resource, but spreading risk.” This was particularly important during the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic when virtually all non-essential sectors were shut down.
Today, producers in the area — Sabita Mykoo, President of Rio Claro Fine Flavor Cocoa Fermenters Ltd; and Gewan Gangaram — focus on high-quality beans, processing and value-added products to continue their expansion into lucrative international markets.
“I learned that cacao is food and I treat it with that respect,” says Mykoo.
“The station remains steadfast – it continues important research, shares tested practices with farmers to optimize their processes and bring the highest quality beans to market,” says Florencia Beckles-Gangaram, Team Leader at the Rio Claro Demonstration Station .
Gewan’s beans can be found in Seahorse Chocolate. It also exports to Meridian Cacao Co, while Sabita continues to delight the local market with its range of products under its Sabita’s Cocoa Delights brand. Products of the area are also Cocoa Rio and Rio Claro Chocolate.
As I explore further, my thoughts go to Professor Umaharan emphasizing the importance of the South East region as the main cocoa producing area for Trinidad & Tobago. She describes it as a favorable ecosystem, with reduced impact from pests and diseases, and an area that has not yet been reduced by commercial efforts.
However, the impacts of climate change pose a growing threat. The constant rains of the past five years have led to a resurgence of witches’ broom disease in the Rio Claro area, reminiscent of the “cacao outbreak” of 1725, where the disease nearly destroyed the industry.
I wonder what Freeman and his fellow cocoa research scientist FJ Pound would do about climate change, as both researchers’ research was a relentless search for resilient and tasty varieties – work that has saved this food pleasant and irreplaceable.
The CRC has continued that invaluable work as a trustee of the world’s longest continuously funded cocoa breeding program, and one of the world’s most diverse collections of elite and “wild” cocoa germplasm—genetic resources of living things such as seeds, plants and crops – at the International Cocoa Bank in Centeno.
The world owes no small debt to these small islands for access to this living bank in central Trinidad. The idea of a gene bank might conjure up images of a storehouse of seeds housed in glass tubes, but it’s actually 100 hectares of over 2,000 trees – a living library that supports global cocoa research and remains a legacy of the islands’ cocoa heritage .
The story of Cocoa is the human story, a story of resilience and revival. From its first iteration as a currency—an indicator of wealth—to this day, its value has remained. from chocolates and craft drinks to soaps and cocoa continues to inspire the imagination.
Through a subtle blend of tradition and new knowledge, Rio Claro remains the cornerstone of the cacao experience in Trinidad & Tobago, constantly evoking the “food of the gods” and reminding us that cacao is gold.
