Jamaica
A small Caribbean producer with a long cacao history, where the crop is often grown mixed with coffee, spice and fruit rather than in dedicated plantations.
Cacao has been grown in Jamaica since the seventeenth century, and it remains a smallholder crop typically grown in mixed cultivation alongside coffee, breadfruit, pimento and citrus rather than in monoculture.
Production is small and has faced disease and hurricane pressure. A speciality sector works with fermented lots from organised groups, and the island's Trinitario-descended material is well regarded where it is carefully handled.
- Flavour families
- fruity, spicy, nutty
Growing conditions
Smallholder plots in mixed cultivation across the island's interior, exposed to periodic hurricane damage.
Production scale
A small producer.
The figures, 2024
- Production
- 201 tonnes of dry beans
- Rank
- 49 of 57 producing countries
- Share of world
- under 0.1%
- Highest on record
- 3,186 tonnes in 1987
- Status of the figure
- Official figure
Source: FAOSTAT, release of 23 December 2025; calendar year. Rank and share are ChocolateHQ calculations. Every producing country, compared.
Flavour character
Often described as fruity with a spiced, slightly molasses-like depth.
Related
Varieties grown
- TrinitarioTrinitario-descended material grown in mixed cultivation alongside coffee, pimento and citrus rather than in monoculture.
Characteristic flavours
- MolassesReported often enough in this origin's material to be characteristic, though fermentation and roast decide whether it survives into a given bar. Dark, slightly bitter sweetness — the deepest register of the caramel family, and a marker of long fermentation or heavy roast.
Sources
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
- Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics — International Cocoa Organization (ICCO)(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)