Diogo Vaz is a historic plantation on São Tomé and Príncipe. A „Roça“ located in a unique landscape between the volcano „Pico de São Tomé“ and the Atlantic Ocean. The Roça was founded in 1880. Kennyson has been running the plantation since January 2014. He retained the traditional staff and raised wages and improved their living conditions. “We are now expanding the workforce and bringing in our experience and knowledge from our successful companies in Africa. We trust in the ancient craftsmanship of the local islanders, passed on from farmer to farmer, we combine modern methods and contemporary technologies.
We have been pursuing an ambitious reforestation program since 2014 with the aim of optimizing production on the original plantation. We decided to use the original biodiversity of the cocoa plants that were already growing on the island and to perfect them. We want to focus on the plants with the highest organoleptic quality, like those in the Amelonado.“
„We trust in the ancient craftsmanship of the local islanders, passed on from farmer to farmer, we combine modern methods and contemporary technologies.“
Eneko Hiriart (Managing Director)
These 260 hectares cover 145 hectares of cocoa plants, next to which a lush variety of fruits thrive: breadfruit, jackfruit, pepper, vanilla, papaya, mango, banana, coconut, ylang ylang …
We aim to produce 180 tons of cocoa in the next 5 years with an ambitious reforestation program. We concentrate on the rare and original plants, whereby our priority is clearly on quality and traceability, because on increasing the production volume
To date, 150,000 cocoa trees have been planted on the 260 hectare Roça. 250 employees work directly on Diogo Vaz Roça. The plantation provides a secure livelihood for around 2000 people and thus supports the 4 larger villages that surround the plantation. There is also a school with a kindergarten, a medical clinic and a church..
„Sticking to our mission to preserve both the land we cultivate and to support the people we work with, we received the“ Organic Certification „for our cocoa bean production in May 2017.“
