Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s cacao sector has revived in the 2010s through smallholder estates such as Hacienda Chocolat (Yauco) and a research programme at Universidad de Puerto Rico Mayagüez. Total area is small — concentrated in the central mountain range and southern coastal areas — but the territory benefits from US Department of Agriculture germplasm access and tropical conditions suitable for fine flavour cacao.

The focus is on bean-to-bar production within Puerto Rico itself, with growing export of beans to specialty US makers. Hurricane María in 2017 set back the sector substantially, but planting has continued under cooperative and university-supported programmes. Genetic material is largely admixture; clones from USDA NRSP6-Mayagüez collections seed much of the new planting.