Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a small cocoa origin where the crop has a long but secondary presence, established during the colonial plantation era alongside the island's better-known tea, coconut and spice crops. Cacao is grown almost entirely by smallholders rather than on large dedicated estates.

Production is concentrated in the mid-country intermediate zone, with Matale and neighbouring Kandy in the Central Province the main growing districts. Cacao is typically planted as an intercrop, particularly with coconut, at moderate elevations. The material is introduced Trinitario-type cacao, an admixture under the modern genetic-cluster framing of Motamayor et al. (2008), with cotyledon colour ranging from cream to dark purple.

Sri Lankan beans are described as having cocoa, nutty, warm-spice and mild-fruit notes, processed with smallholder and small-facility box fermentation and sun-drying. Volumes are modest and the sector is supported by the Department of Export Agriculture, with quality cacao of interest to a small domestic and specialist chocolate market.