In the Utcubamba province of Peru’s Amazonas region, more than 50 farming families grow native Cajamarca-Amazonas cocoa at 400-750 metres above sea level, in the shade of capirona, mango, tamarind, and grapefruit trees. In a landscape where modern hybrids have come to dominate, they carry the responsibility of preserving centuries-old genetics and of expressing the flavour profile of Peru’s first ever Denomination of Origin (D.O.) cocoa.

In 2022, APPCACAO launched a project to identify farms growing the native trees and supported them in improving cultivation and post-harvest processes – leading to Peru’s first exported D.O. cocoa in 2025. Our local partners Original Beans and CEPROAA now continue this work, preserving cocoa trees and distributing seedlings from a new clonal garden to protect these genetics among a sea of modern hybrids.