India

Cacao is a relatively recent and secondary crop in India, established largely from the 1960s and 1970s with material distributed through research institutions, notably ICAR's central plantation crops research network. It is grown almost entirely as a smallholder intercrop, planted under the shade of coconut and arecanut gardens, and in Andhra Pradesh increasingly beneath oil palm.

Four southern states account for nearly all output: Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Andhra Pradesh leads, supplying around 40 percent of national production, with the West and East Godavari delta a particular concentration; Kerala is the other major state. Planted material is introduced Trinitario-type hybrid and clonal selections, an admixture under the modern genetic-cluster framing of Motamayor et al. (2008), rather than any native population.

Indian cacao is mostly processed for the domestic chocolate and confectionery industry, and the typical sensory profile is mild, nutty and low in acidity. Tight global supply through the mid-2020s has renewed farmer interest in cacao as an intercrop, and a small craft chocolate sector has begun to develop alongside the larger industrial market.