Cuba

Cuba is a modest cacao producer whose industry is overwhelmingly concentrated in the east of the island. The large majority of national output comes from the Baracoa area of Guantánamo Province, which is also Cuba's main cacao-processing centre. Cacao is grown by smallholders on small plots, typically interplanted with banana, coconut and other crops in mixed agroforestry.

The region's cacao is genetically mixed. A ddRADseq study of in-farm and genebank cacao in the Baracoa region documented diverse, admixed material rather than a single uniform type, consistent with the admixture category of the modern genetic-cluster taxonomy of Motamayor et al. (2008). Processing combines box fermentation, commonly around seven days, with the older practice of heaping beans under banana leaves; drying is by sun, often over a week or more. The resulting beans show a cocoa-forward profile with nutty, earthy and mild-fruit notes.

Cuban cacao has historically moved largely through the state system, and the sector has at times been affected by hurricanes and limited inputs. Baracoa retains a strong local identity as the centre of Cuban cocoa and chocolate.