VRAE cacao: the valley where cacao replaced coca

Region

Valley of the Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro rivers (Junín, Ayacucho, Cusco)

Altitude

400–1,300 m

Genetics

Native VRAE types (VRAE-15, VRAE-99), Chuncho, Criollo, Trinitario

Flavour

Soursop, mandarin and custard apple, with floral and herbal notes

Where it grows

Peru's central jungle is home to native cacao types that scientists label VRAE-15 and VRAE-99, growing next to old Criollo and Trinitario trees. The cups here are fruity, floral and often herbal, a little wilder than the coast.

Its story

VRAE is the Spanish short name for the valley where three rivers meet in central Peru. Not long ago this was one of the country's main coca regions. For more than 15 years, Peru and international partners have helped farmers switch to coffee and cacao, with training, roads, drying centres and organic certification. The El Quinacho co-operative alone has 255 members, 89 of them women, each farming about 1.35 hectares. For us this is cacao as medicine in the widest sense: a plant that helped a whole valley choose a different future.

The change is real and still growing. By 2019 more than 4,500 hectares had been planted with crops that replace coca, and over 40 processing plants were being built. In 2025, sixty cacao families from Kimbiri and Santa Rosa sold 15 tonnes of organic cacao to the United States, handling everything themselves from tree to sale.

In your cup

VRAE tastes of tropical fruit like soursop and mandarin. It is a joyful, bright cup for a ceremony about new beginnings.

How it is processed

Beans ferment for six to seven days in tornillo boxes, then dry for six to eight days: in mounds in the sun for two to four days, then on covered tarps or mesh shelves in the shade.

Peruvian cacaos on our list

• Sumaq Cacaosito · Chuncho
• Kawsay Cacaosito · Kichwa-Lamista communities
• Moruga · Chuncho Chuncho
• Pure Kakaw · Cusco Cusco
• Ritual Cacao · Peru Asháninka Asháninka

Tasted one of them? Give it your score from 1 to 5 on the ranking. Scores come only from people who drink cacao and are never for sale.

More Peruvian cacao origins

• Piura White cacao
• Chulucanas cacao
• Salitral cacao
• Awajún cacao
• Macambo
• Satipo cacao
• Pangoa cacao
• Tsiriari cacao
• Chuncho cacao
• Why Peru is the birthplace of cacao
• How Peruvian cacao is fermented and dried
• Which Peruvian cacao for your ceremony?

Learn about cacao