The truth about single variety cacao

The chocolate industry is steeped in tradition, but doing things “the way they’ve always been done” is no friend to innovation. Most major chocolate makers, even those considered legacy brands, continue to rely on the same outdated formula: buy cheap, seed-planted commodity cacao, overroast it to neutralise flaws, and mask the resulting bitterness with artificial flavours. The result? Bland, sugary products that prioritise scale over quality—a sort of fast food of chocolate.

At Xoco, we are charting a different course by returning to agricultural fundamentals. We treat cacao as a fruit tree and cultivate it for its variety and flavour. This approach has the potential to revolutionise the chocolate industry. Flavour matters to consumers and culinary professionals alike. Unlocking new, desirable, and complex flavours creates new value and has the power to break the conception of cacao as a uniform commodity product that can be bought at low prices. The low prices don’t help farmers, many of them in deep poverty, or incentivise them to improve productivity or take care of the environment. The revolution is important.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a fruit tree

Its fruits, commonly called cacao pods, grow directly on its trunk and branches. Inside these pods are seeds or ”cacao beans” surrounded by a sweet, mucilaginous pulp. Like all fruit trees, the flavour of its fruit is mainly influenced by its genetic makeup.
Understanding cacao as a fruit tree reminds us that, like apples or grapes, its cultivation relies heavily on maintaining the desired genetic traits for consistency in flavour. This is key to offering culinary professionals and chocolatiers a reliable source of single-variety cacao with predictable taste profiles.

Genetics determine flavor

The genetic composition of a cacao tree lays the foundation for its flavour, much like the genetic composition of a grapevine defines the wine it can produce. Genes control the biochemical compounds responsible for cacao’s characteristic flavours. As the biochemical compounds vary between trees, so do the flavours.

What is a fruit variety ?

In layman’s terms, a fruit variety refers to a group of genetically identical plants, each producing fruits with the same flavour characteristics. This level of uniformity is only possible through asexual propagation methods such as grafting.

Grafting involves attaching a bud from a desired cacao onto a rootstock. It’s a labour-intensive, demanding, and costly process, which has limited its widespread adoption (an estimated 95–99% of cacao trees worldwide are propagated from seeds, a method favoured for its simplicity and low cost). What’s more, before a grafting protocol can be established, desirable ”mother” trees must be identified, their beans tested for flavour, and selected for large-scale replication. Despite the complexity of the process, this is the method we’ve chosen to use at Xoco, as it’s the only way to create a true cacao variety; with consistent, premium flavour profiles.

Why grafting matters ?

– Flavour consistency for culinary professionals: Grafting ensures every tree has the same genetic profile and, consequently, the same characteristics. It avoids the Russian roulette of seed planting, where variability in flavour, disease resistance, and yield undermines consistent quality.

– Better prices and end of poverty in cacao growing: The reliability of grafted cacao ensures better prices for farmers and improves their living conditions. It is our firm belief that grafting is key to ending poverty in cacao fields.

Grafting in other fruit industries

Aside from cacao, all fruit trees are planted for variety and replicated via asexual propagation (grafting). In fact, the only reason fruit varieties exist is because they are produced this way.
Take grapes, for example. Varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir are only possible because they are selected for flavour and propagated asexually. Planting grape seeds would introduce genetic variability and yield vines with unpredictable traits. The same goes for apples, cherries, pears, and all other fruits produced today.

Debunking the myth: why Criollo, Trinitario, and Forastero are not varieties

Traditional chocolate makers and industry literature often refer to Criollo, Trinitario, and Forastero as “varieties” but this classification is misleading. These names describe broad genetic clusters or populations of seed-planted cacao—not specific genetic varieties, as defined in horticultural terms.

Their classification is based on ancestry and historical cultivation patterns rather than uniform genetic traits directly linked to flavour potential.

The future of cacao growing

Correcting the misconception of Criollo, Trinitario, and Forastero as ”varieties” is crucial to advancing high-quality precise cacao cultivation. Recognising these terms as genetic clusters reveals the need for targeted selection and asexual propagation of cacao trees with desirable traits.

By shifting the focus to specific genetic markers and asexual propagation techniques, the cacao industry can better align with practices in other fruit tree industries, such as grapevines or apples. The fruit industry has already proven these methods can achieve consistent flavour, productivity, quality—and better living conditions for farmers. The question is whether an old, traditional industry with little if any capabilities in cacao growing can adapt. In the meantime, Xoco is already leading the way.

Scientific sources_The Truth about single-variety cacao