In Belize, Farmers and Chocolatiers Are Reclaiming Cocoa

Taiwan promotes allies' Guatemalan coffee, Belizean cocoa

Taipei, Nov. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) joined Belizean Ambassador Katherine Vanessa Meighan and Guatemalan Ambassador Luis Raúl Estévez López on Friday at a food and beverage expo in Taipei to promote Belizean cocoa and Guatemalan coffee.

In Belize, Farmers and Chocolatiers Are Reclaiming Cocoa

Eladio Pop is a wealthy man. Under pockets of golden light shining through the canopy, he looks over the forest he planted 50 years ago with an unassuming treasure: cacao trees. “Cacao beans is our Mayan gold,” Pop’s son, Felicidados, tells me as we walk through the forest, the humidity adding a glowing sheen of sweat on our skin. The history of cacao is rich here in Belize, a place often referred to as the “cradle of chocolate.” It is home to s…