Happy New Year! As we step into 2025, we wish you health, happiness, and prosperity. This year brings exciting developments for VAICACAO, and we’re thrilled to share them with you!
We’re introducing ⭐️ fresh new formats for our CEREMONIAL CACAOS, launching additional natural and healthy products, and updating our prices to reflect the current realities of cacao farming, supply, and our artisan production.
We believe in transparency and want to share why this change is necessary and how it aligns with our mission to build a sustainable and fair cacao ecosystem.
The Global Cacao Crisis: Understanding the Context
Over the past year, the global cacao market has experienced significant price changes, driven by a prolonged supply deficit that has persisted for several years as global demand for cacao continues to exceed production capacity. Bulk commodity cacao prices have surged, reaching a record high of USD $12,646 per metric ton by December 2024.
This surge is the result of years of underinvestment in sustainable cacao cultivation, aging plantations, persistently low prices, and heavy pesticide use—combined with monoculture practices and deforestation. These factors have contributed to widespread harvest shortages, exacerbated by the devastating "swollen shoot" virus in major producing countries like Ivory Coast and Ghana, alongside extreme weather patterns and climate challenges that also affected Central America impacting directly on our supply for VAICACAO.
Despite rising prices, many farmers do not directly benefit, as much of the value is absorbed by intermediaries and logistics structures.
Our Commitment to Sustainability and Quality.
Since our journey began in 2015, we've been committed to paying premium FARM-GATE prices—the price paid directly to farmers at their farm, without intermediaries, ensuring they receive a premium income before additional costs like transport or export fees are added. We apply this model with our cacao farming partners in El Salvador, ensuring decent prices for their efforts through the acquisition of their harvests cultivated in ecological agroforestry systems.
Our approach has always been independent, as we have never adhered to the commodity bulk cacao market prices. Since 2015, we have focused on sourcing fine flavor fermented and dried cacao beans, offering higher and more attractive prices to support both our farming partners and our own family’s farm. This commitment has allowed us to remain resilient amidst the recent surge in global market prices, which has had a far greater impact on companies that have historically underpaid their suppliers.
We don’t claim to have the magic formula to make cacao farming sustainable. Many variables—such as low production yields—continue to create uncertainties also for us. Even when farmers receive excellent prices, they often struggle to cover their fixed yearly costs due to low cacao availability from poor harvest yields.
2024 was a particularly challenging year for us as well in El Salvador.
Our supplier network in Mesoamerica (this includes El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica) faced an unproductive cycle due to climate change effects. Extreme heat worsened by a prolonged El Niño climate-phenomenon during the dry season dehydrated the flowering cushions on cacao trees, drying out the flowers. Then, heavy tropical storms washed away surviving flowers and pods, causing severe damage due to floods, strong winds, and excessive water accumulation. Rainy and dry seasons are changing quickly, and becoming more extreme and nature is struggling to adjust with the same velocity.
Price Evolution: Transparency at a Glance
Here's how our purchasing prices have evolved compared to global commodity prices and the reference for the “self named- fair trade” certification price levels:
|
Time Period |
Farm-Gate Price paid by VAICACAO in El Salvador |
US Commodity Price (Global Bulk Market) |
Fair Trade Minimum price |
|
October 2020 |
€6.23/kg |
€2.76/kg |
€2.40/kg |
|
October 2021 |
€6.23/kg |
€2.81/kg |
€2.40/kg |
|
December 2022 |
↑ €7.50/kg |
↓ €2.60/kg |
€2.40/kg |
|
October 2023 |
↑ €8.00/kg |
↑ €4.46/kg |
€2.40/kg |
|
October 2024 |
↑ €12.00/kg |
↑ €7.72/kg |
€2.40/kg |
Understanding the Numbers: A Transparent Comparison
Looking at the data shown before, in 2020 VAICACAO’s farm-gate price—the actual clean income farmers receive from our Salvadoran company, including local taxes—was € 6.23/kg. In contrast, the global cacao market price stood significantly lower at €2.76/kg. It's important to clarify that this figure refers to the commodity price reference for contracts for several containers full of cacao beans, delivered at port of destination in the USA. This price reference includes shipping cost, and the margins for all the intermediary structures such as traders, shippers, collection centers and post harvest services, local transport and brokers leaving a mysterious lower price level when it reaches the farmer.
For clarification purposes let’s again emphasize what constitutes the price levels of trading commodities such as US/ EU cocoa futures: This refers to the cost of dried and fermented cacao beans loaded onto the ship and delivered at the port of destination. The price includes farm gate acquisition by a local transport or broker, intermediaries’ fees, export and cooperative management fees. Therefore, to determine how much farmers actually perceive, one must deduct the costs from all these stages from the €2.76/kg trading level, making it difficult to truly understand the farmers' net income.
In the same year 2020, the minimum price level to acquire a Fair Trade certification, was €2.40/kg delivered at port. Since it does not reflect a farm-gate value, it remains unclear how much farmers were genuinely being paid after all deductions. As you can observe, the price is still very low compared to what we were transmitting by buying locally at farm gate levels. It is unbelievable that Fair Trade price levels also remained lower than the global bulk commodity cacao market and unchanged for many years.
Fast forward to 2024, and the numbers tell a compelling story. When we concluded our purchase in early October we were able to raise to €12.00/kg farm-gate, in comparison to bulk commodity’s market level of $7.72 transmitting a premium price directly to farmers without intermediaries.
Keep in mind that this farm gate price is just the beginning and one of the first elements in our cost structure where additional expenses such as operative charges and taxes for any established business in El Salvador and Italy, combined with significant logistics costs covering ocean and inland freight towards Olbia, as well as additional import fees with Italian duties, accumulated with labor and product transformation costs and unforeseen burdens that a family owned small company has to deal with.
Meanwhile, the global market price had jumped from €2.76/kg in 2020 to reach better prices fluctuating to $7.72/kg by October 2024. Prices continued to increase peaking at $12.65/kg by the end of December for contracts of deliveries of container loads of cacao beans at port of destination in the beginning of the first quarter of 2025. These changes reflect a substantial increase. However, the so-called Fair Trade price has remained unchanged at €2.40/kg for many years demonstrating the lack of adjustment to real-world challenges and rising costs faced by farmers.
This comparison underscores the difference in our approach—ensuring that farmers receive a premium, transparent, and sustainable price for their hard work, without the hidden costs and deductions that obscure their true earnings in conventional high volume trade models.
The Reality: Why Updating Our Prices Is Necessary
Even with record-high cacao prices, many farmers are still struggling to cover their yearly operational costs due to low yields, so you might think that now the situation with the low wages has been resolved, but in fact, it isn’t.
At VAICACAO, we are committed to keeping our products accessible while staying true to our ethical and high quality standards.
We understand the rising costs of living and inflation affecting our dear customers, but to sustain our project and support our farming partners, a price adjustment has become necessary, so we can keep supporting the responsible and sustainable cacao farming in our country, El Salvador, and Mesoamerica.
By updating our prices, we can continue to:
🌱 Support regenerative farming practices that nourish the earth and counter global warming.
💰 Ensure farmers receive premium better-than-market price rates.
🍫 Create high-quality, traceable, ethical and healthy cacao products that reflect our craft.
🧘 Invest in creating nourishing cacao products and experiences for your mind, body, and soul.
Moving Forward Together
A pillar of our project has been to create accessible products to share with the world without renouncing any bit of quality or ethical practices, by bridging the gap between farmers and consumers.
We are conscious about the high costs of living that affect our customers. That is why we always strive to find a way to offer competitive accessible prices so people can allow themselves to nurture their bodies and mind with the nutritional and therapeutic benefits from our functional products range made from pure and authentic cacaos, each with their unique story and essence.
Thank you very much for being a part of our journey towards the rediscovery of cacao as a plant medicine and outstanding food.
You are the ones who make our business project a reality and together we contribute to create positive changes towards sustainable cacao farming.
Below please find the price updates that will be in effect as of February 1st 2025
- VAICACAO functional chocolates 33g: €7.00
- Ceremonial VAICACAO 180g: €16.00
- Ceremonial VAICACAO 400g: €33.00
- VAICACAO nibs 150g: €10.90
This adjustment allows us to uphold our values while navigating the evolving realities of cacao production.
Thank You for Your Support 💚
As we embark on this new chapter, we’re more committed than ever to bringing you authentic, high-quality cacao products that nourish your body and soul. Thank you for being part of our journey and for trusting us to deliver the best that cacao has to offer. Together, we can continue to create a positive impact, one cacao bean at a time.
Here’s to a year filled with love, health, satisfaction and shared prosperity
Eli & JuanRa
Co-Founders, VAICACAO
🌱🌍