The Quest to Save the World’s Most Coveted Chocolate

Photo caption: A pod of ancient Nacional cacao offers hope for reforesting Ecuador’s Pacific coast, which by some estimates has lost 98 percent of its trees over the past century. Photo credit: Johis Alarcón. Article by Heide Brandes. Smithsonian Magazine – September / October 2023.

Of all the heirloom cacao pods laid before us on a rickety wooden table, on this quiet hillside outside the city of Manta in Ecuador, the ancient variety known as Nacional was misleadingly plain. It was hard to believe this shriveled yellow pod contained one of the world’s rarest and most coveted cacao beans. Then I tasted its fruit in its fresh, raw, pure form. […]

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