Peruvian Cacao: Regions, Varieties And Why Origin Matters
Peruvian cacao comes mostly from seven departments on the eastern side of the Andes, where the mountains fall into the Amazon basin. MINAGRI, Peru's agriculture ministry, put it precisely in its 2017 cacao fact sheet: seven of the country's sixteen cacao-growing departments produce around 93 per cent of national output, and in 2015 San Martín alone accounted for 42.5 per cent, Junín 17.2 per cent, Cusco 9.2 per cent and Ucayali 6.9 per cent.
The interesting part is how recent that map is. Peruvian production rose from about 24,000 tonnes in 2003 to about 87,000 tonnes in 2015, with harvested area going from roughly 50,000 to 121,000 hectares over the same period. This is not an ancient export industry. It is a crop that roughly quadrupled inside one generation of farmers.
Where does cacao come from in Peru, department by department
| Department | Share of national production, 2015 |
|---|---|
| San Martín | 42.5% |
| Junín | 17.2% |
| Cusco | 9.2% |
| Ucayali | 6.9% |
| Amazonas, Ayacucho and Huánuco | The balance of the 93% held by the seven departments together |
Varieties cut across that map rather than following it. Peru's state news agency Andina, reporting in July 2025, named five recognised fine and flavour varieties: Blanco de Piura, Nacional Puro from San Ignacio, Marañón from Jaén, Chuncho from Cusco and Montaña from Junín. The same report puts five regions, San Martín followed by Junín, Ucayali, Huánuco and Cusco, at 86 per cent of total production, and describes nearly 90,000 small-scale family farms across 16 regions.
The genetics underneath the map
MINAGRI's fact sheet lists five genetic groups present in Peru: Criollo, Forastero from the Alto Amazonas, Forastero from the Bajo Amazonas, Nacional, and Trinitario, which is a cross between Forastero and Criollo. That mix is unusual in one country, and it is the reason the ministry's own document is headed with the phrase Peru, centre of cocoa origins and biodiversity.
It also explains why origin alone is a weak description. Two bags both labelled Peru can be different genetic material from different river systems at different altitudes. Origin is where the conversation starts, not where it finishes. Our comparison of Peruvian and Ecuadorian cacao goes further into what separates the two, and the Criollo tradition in Peru covers the oldest of these groups.
What the American researchers went looking for
In 2008 and 2009 the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service ran cacao collection expeditions in the Peruvian Amazon, working with the Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales in San Martín. The team came from the Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory and the Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory at Beltsville, Maryland, led on the crops side by research leader Lyndel Meinhardt with geneticist Dapeng Zhang.
ARS reported in September 2011 that the collection ran to 342 cacao specimens from 12 watersheds, with the DNA being categorised, and that the material had been found at higher altitude than usual for the crop. Collaborators from Maranon Chocolate found the Pure Nacional variety during that period. Twelve watersheds, 342 samples. That is the scale of what was still uncatalogued in one country in the late 2000s.
Why Peruvian cacao tastes the way it does
Flavour follows from that genetic spread and from where the trees sit. A single-origin Peruvian cacao is drawn from one of those river systems rather than blended with commodity beans from several continents, which is the whole point of buying by origin: the flavour is traceable to a place, and if it changes you can ask why. Our note on single-origin flavour profiles sets out how those differences are usually described.
The commercial context has shifted hard underneath all of this. Andina reported in July 2025 that Peru exported 160,000 tonnes of cacao and derivatives in 2024 for 1.28 billion US dollars, making cacao the country's fifth agricultural export after blueberries, grapes, avocados and coffee, with international prices quoted between 5,000 and 12,500 dollars a tonne. At that spread, which farm a buyer commits to is a decision with consequences.
What is actually in a Chaski tube
Chaski Cacao is a 600 g tube of 77 per cent dark chocolate buttons, four buttons to the daily dose on the pack. The cacao is single-origin Peruvian and Ecuadorian, sourced from a Peruvian farm our founder has visited and whose farmers he has met, and it is ground at low temperature. The sweetener is coconut sugar, with no added cane sugar, no emulsifiers, no seed oils and no palm oil. Every batch is tested for lead, cadmium and pesticides.
The buttons are currently made by a UK manufacturer, and production may move to Peru. The origin detail and the ingredient list are on the Chaski Cacao product page, and the rest of the library is in our guides.
If you are buying Peruvian cacao, ask for the department and the river valley, not just the country. The country is 16 regions wide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which regions of Peru grow the most cacao?
MINAGRI, Peru's agriculture ministry, reported in its 2017 cacao fact sheet that seven of the country's sixteen cacao-growing departments produce about 93 per cent of national output: Amazonas, Ayacucho, San Martin, Cusco, Huanuco, Ucayali and Junin. In 2015 San Martin accounted for 42.5 per cent on its own, with Junin at 17.2 per cent, Cusco at 9.2 per cent and Ucayali at 6.9 per cent. Peru's state news agency Andina reported in July 2025 that the top five regions together make up 86 per cent of production.
How much cacao does Peru produce and export?
MINAGRI recorded national production rising from about 24,000 tonnes in 2003 to about 87,000 tonnes in 2015, with harvested area going from roughly 50,000 to 121,000 hectares. For the export side, Peru's state news agency Andina reported in July 2025 that the country exported 160,000 tonnes of cacao and derivatives in 2024, worth 1.28 billion US dollars, and described Peru as the world's eighth-largest exporter of cacao beans. The same report put the crop fifth among Peru's agricultural exports, after blueberries, grapes, avocados and coffee.
What cacao varieties grow in Peru?
MINAGRI's 2017 fact sheet lists five genetic groups present in the country: Criollo, Forastero from the Alto Amazonas, Forastero from the Bajo Amazonas, Nacional, and Trinitario, a cross between Forastero and Criollo. Separately, Andina reported in July 2025 on five recognised fine and flavour varieties tied to particular places: Blanco de Piura, Nacional Puro from San Ignacio, Maranon from Jaen, Chuncho from Cusco and Montana from Junin. That is why a bag labelled only Peru tells you less than it appears to.
Who collected wild cacao in Peru for research?
The US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service ran collection expeditions in the Peruvian Amazon in 2008 and 2009, working with the Instituto de Cultivos Tropicales in San Martin. The scientists came from the Sustainable Perennial Crops Laboratory and the Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory at Beltsville, Maryland, with research leader Lyndel Meinhardt and geneticist Dapeng Zhang named on the work. ARS reported in September 2011 that 342 cacao specimens from 12 watersheds were being studied and their DNA categorised, and that collaborators from Maranon Chocolate found the Pure Nacional variety.
How many farmers grow cacao in Peru?
Peru's state news agency Andina reported in July 2025 that nearly 90,000 small-scale family farmers grow cacao across 16 regions of the country. That figure describes the structure of the sector: it is smallholder agriculture rather than plantation agriculture, which is why buying by origin usually means buying from a cooperative or a named farm rather than from a single large estate. The same report quoted international prices between 5,000 and 12,500 US dollars a tonne, a spread that matters a great deal at that farm size.
Sources
- Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego (MINAGRI), Cacao: Perú, centro de origen y biodiversidad del cacao, 2017
- Agencia Peruana de Noticias, Andina, 2025
- Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 2011