Vietnam – Bên Tre

Late in the ^19th century, cocoa was introduced to Vietnam, in Ben Tré Province. Unfortunately, with little success. The cocoa, from the cocoa trees that remained, was eaten by the people raw and directly from the pod. It was later tried again during the early 1980s. The interested parties were the Russians. Even before the first cocoa was ready, the iron curtain fell and the potential buyers disappeared without a trace. The cocoa was disbanded again. Until in China, the demand for chocolate increased around 2000. The big companies, from China, wanted to get the cocoa from nearby Vietnam. This was mainly bulk cocoa. At the same time, the demand for good cocoa was increasing. The cocoa trees, from Ben Tré for example that were left over from 1980 and earlier were used to open new plantations with quality cocoa trees.