The Sierra Nevada is a majestic mountain range in the northern part of Colombia, bordering the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean coast and reaching up to 18,700 feet high. Cacao de Colombia recently installed a state-of-the-art fermentation and drying center in the lower community of Macondo, where they source cocoa mainly from about 10 farming families in the department of Magdalena.

The technical expertise of these farmers is excellent: farmers even do their own pollination experiments to improve quality and yields, which are currently around 700 kg/hectare in the region. Cacao de Colombia has been providing technical support and a stable market to farmers in the Sierra Nevada for the past 6 years, and the results are evident in both the quality of the cocoa and the impact on the farmers. Farmers report a 72% higher annual income than before this new market existed.