The fight to save Filipino chocolate | FT Film

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It was introduced through the galleon trade during the Spanish time.

And Davao region is very suitable for planting cacao.

We have this good humidity, atmosphere, the soil that we have - we have a rich soil. Because of its contribution to the commodity sector, development or activity in the region propelled the acceptance of the cacao into a national priority crop.

almost 80,000 farmers are dependent on cacao farming 90 per cent of the production came from Mindanao, and 78 per cent of the total production came from Davao region, 58 per cent produced by Davao City.

local producers are mostly artisanal. Tree to Bar

Reason why we became the chocolate capital of the Philippines. As of 2024, Philippine chocolate market US$419.11mn projected US$707.52mn by 2030.

Recently, there was El Niño, less water, less rain. It affects the production, and then also affects the output of the beans.

Global issues and When we say climate change is extreme, of course, affected cacao especially in an open area. It's because there's no water.

The water stress for the plants here in this industry. So from climate change, our water is unpredictable, either extreme rainfall or drought.

Davao City has a Type 4 Climate. dry spell last year. Due to

March, April, May, and then this was very big harvest. But it kept on raining. So the problem was, we do not have enough drying facility to dry the beans. And then if you don't dry it properly, it becomes mouldy. Yeah, it's a very big problem.

Intense rain and because of the humidity and incidents on pests, especially disease.

Pod rot and cacao pod borers are the number-one enemy of cacao farmers in this area. If there's too much rain, there could be a few changes on the flavour profile if it's really - the soil is wet and it gets a lot of moisture.

It's interconnected - the flavour, the weight, the size, the market, the economy.

So a decline in production means there is less money coming in to the farmers. Then they don't have money to buy inputs into their farm. They will prioritise food. They will prioritise their basic needs. And when that happens, we are leaving the cacao trees to be susceptible to diseases.

You will have less fruit, and you will now look for another job. It's a cycle, and it's very sad that that's the situation that's happening.

Production levels decrease by 30 per cent, 35 per cent, so that's a very big number. So that's why the production died. And then naturally, prices spike.

That's good for the farmer, but also it's bad for the processors, because the processors now have to pay so much money to make chocolates.

I think there needs to be a balance, but we take into account what's happening in the global scenario, and then we adapt into - we adapt certain business strategies based on that.

Through this planting of cacao, it helps mitigate even the global climate. At the same time, it minimises the runoff, and it provides a good habitat of the... in the ecosystem. So the plant itself - cacao, since it is a tree - aside from producing a fruit, also absorbs our carbon dioxide. We call that a carbon sink, so it's a multi-purpose commodity.

Right now, we are trying to develop a system or technologies that can mitigate the effects of this climate change. So we have this Climate Risk Vulnerability Assessment or CRV for agriculture, where we look at which are areas that are potential for growing cacao, and even rehabilitation of this old, unproductive trees and farms.

Intercropping System, or they even call that Diversified Farming System, or incorporating tree crop with forest crop, that is agroforestry. These are very good nature-based solutions to climate change, a system which we embrace, and then we introduced to farming communities, so that we can grow different crops within a certain area, and harmoniously they could provide fruits or products.

The Department of Agriculture, through the Adaptation Mitigation Initiative in Agricultural programme, or AMIA - we are now developing a system wherein we transform this climate-based information for this weather and climate outlook into information material that can be followed or provided to the communities through our climate information services, Agro Climatic Portal.

We have a quarterly, and even six-months calendar of the climate - will be likely to happen in the next few days, in the next few months, and even a year. So this is actually a preventive measure, especially when there is a calamity that would come.

We've already adopted a lot of changes also from a conventional way of farming cacao. 2023, we've already, full stop, we don't use herbicide anymore. No weed killer. It's very harmful to the soil.

Just take care of the soil. The microbes are there. They will multiply, and these are your soldiers. And these soldiers will help you keep your trees healthy.

We've been applying bio fertiliser, I think, four years. This product is made by Davao Thermo Biotech. The bio fertiliser - they collect biological waste from all over Davao City.

The waste of poultry growers, they collect it and convert it into fertiliser. And then they bring it to the facility. They put a sort of an enzyme on the pile, and then it ferments the biological waste. The byproduct is fertilisers.

And then, basal application. So far, I have observed that it's very good. And whatever we apply to cacao will also affect other crops planted around the area. Farm yield here is about 1.5 kilos dried beans per tree per year. We have about 12,000 trees.

We want to go to organic farming. with climate change. So double or triple the effort. So WasteX is a climate start-up group. WasteX to help us in our operations. So the product of WasteX is biochar.

Upon harvest, of course you have the pods. What we do is to shred them first for easy burning. We now feed it to the WasteX Carbonizer. A process called pyrolysis happens. So pyrolysis is the process of burning material in the absence of oxygen. So we do that

Some of the nutrients are still there. After harvesting it, So we charge the biochar, putting biofertilizers or fungi or anything that helps before putting it in the trees. This has been soaking for 24 hours. So harvest, and then we can now apply it to the field.

We use the PVC pipes. We call it the optimum rootzone irrigation. We dig a hole, then cover them with biochar. So

So it's really efficient and effective. Biochar increases the crop yield and quality, and there is an increase in the microorganisms. Plus, it's good for the environment, because

The use of biochar is one of the most cost-effective way to decrease carbon in the environment. Aside from biochar, we also use MycoVam. So MycoVam is a mycor-rhizal fungi, was developed in UP lab-tech.

It's a biofertilizer. Myco from the Latin for fungus, and 'rhizal' for roots.

They call it the hyphae. The nutrient and water uptake is better to give the fruits a better taste, a brighter colour, and heavier.

So we use the banana pseudostem after harvest to increase the population of the pollinators. pseudostem - it's an organic waste. We cut it into smaller pieces, and then we put it in trees.

Pollinators of cacao, called midges - they use it as their habitat. So more pollinators, more possibility of cacao set.

They become fertiliser for the tree. Plus, the decomposing organic matter produced is food for the earthworm. They go up and down your soil. So that's the source of your aeration and drainage then. They excrete the nutrient-rich casting.

And during drought, your soil is compact and So plants need water. IV drip line irrigation. First, we use the PET bottles, and then we use this. No, this is the drip line used in dextrose.

We use it only during drought.

Davao is unique and distinct from others. I think first is the flavour profile - more fruity, more nutty and floral. Those are the characteristics that are sought after for premium chocolates.

Thank you. Taste test.

First off, before you eat your chocolate, you have to smell. A well-made chocolate has a snap.

Mm.

Tastes really premium.

Yummy.

We have a strong belief that rising tides lift all boats. The industry does well and everyone does well.

It's important that the whole community enjoys, not only the retailer that enjoys the profits, it has to be the whole value chain.

It all boils down to practicing sustainability and empowering the farmer.

Now, we exchange practises and sharing information.

So we have the good genetics already. It's just a matter of really taking good care of the trees.