Chocolate Festival, develops strategies to strengthen the value chain

Villahermosa, Tab. The national potential production of cocoa estimated for 2030 is 47,540 million tons with which an accumulated growth of 76.98% between 2016-2030 would be expected, according to the document of the National Agricultural Planning.

In the state of Tabasco, the main producer of the fruit in the country, they are working to strengthen the cocoa value chain with a focus on sustainable agriculture, they even created a working commission that will review the organization process of the participants in cocoa production.

“Activities around cocoa are being developed, one of the most relevant is the Tabasco Chocolate Festival, which in 2022 presents the 11th. Edition”, commented José Antonio Nieves, the Secretary of Tourism of Tabasco.

The Tabasco Cocoa Festival was held from November 16 to 20 in the city of Villahermosa, at Parque Tabasco facilities in hall 3. In this edition, the international guest country was Belgium and the invited state was Baja California.

“The festival has become an anchor event for the state’s economy that promotes tradition, gastronomy and tourism, considering as thematic axis the criollo cocoa seed from Tabasco and local chocolate, with an approach from different dimensions: cultural, anthropological, historical, social and economic, through the organization of an original festival that with quality, efficiency and profitability, which promotes the strategic positioning of the product and the destination”, commented José Antonio Nieves.

In the 11th. edition, a resizing of the event was proposed so that it could not only be a party, “but it could also have a more transcendent impact, going from…a party and selling chocolates,…to generate this project in five dimensions.”

The Secretary of Tourism of Tabasco explained that the first dimension is the cocoa farmers, therefore, they generated knowledge about best practices, strategies to increase production, offer information on new practices, such as organic production and the agroforestry

The second dimension is for post-producers where the focus is best practices, organic processes and new techniques and technologies to increase the economy with the product.

The third dimension is in the chocolatiers, the focus was on knowledge management for the new generations, where innovation, brand value, techniques and technologies and the approach of renowned national and international chocolatiers with gastronomy students was evident.

The fourth dimension is gastronomy, “Tabasco has exceptional gastronomy, but it is a closely guarded secret, it is a gastronomy that has remained in our homes,” said José Antonio Nieves. The approach within the Chocolate Festival is to show new dishes by renowned chefs who could share their knowledge with innovative gastronomy schools, with the intention that Tabasco becomes the headquarters of gastronomic innovation with the cacao and the chocolate.

While the fifth dimension is tourism in order for Tabasco to become the main tourist destination for cocoa and chocolate in the world, they already have the “Route from Cocoa to Chocolate”. During the Chocolate Festival, visits were made to the field and to farms that associate the five senses with the route.

“We want Tabasco to be the headquarters of global gastronomic innovation linked to cocoa and chocolate, to cause gastronomy not only to be sweet but also salty, but also to be able to rescue those values ​​of pre-Hispanic drinks that in the case of Tabasco its central axis is the chorote, better known as pozol, but it is really the chorote that mixes corn and cocoa”.

“The festival was conceived to attract more tourists to Tabasco, however, by delving into the five dimensions to take into account the entire value chain, we have been recognized in one of the chocolate festivals around the world,” concluded José Antonio. Nieves, Secretary of Tourism of the state.

patricia.ortega@eleconomista.mx