The tour was conducted on Wednesday 20th November by Dr. Darin Sukha, Research Fellow and Professor Path Umaharan, Director at the Cocoa Research Centre (CRC), University of the West Indies. Professor Umaharan informed the team about the services offered by the CRC, the work being done to foster the improved productivity and quality of the cocoa industry and, highlighted the investment opportunities currently available to local and foreign investors. A major aspect of the discussion centered on Trinidad and Tobago’s unique varieties of fine cocoa, much of which remain, to date, as untapped economic potential.
Following this discussion, the team visited the International Fine Cocoa Innovation Centre. This facility offers both technology and business incubation services, and is equipped with a state of the art commercial scale factory that generates cocoa nibs and cocoa liqueur which is made available to the local market. The team was privileged to sample many of the diverse chocolate blends that were produced at the facility.