Riding on the Sao Tome and Principe rich cocoa-growing history Diogo Vaz Plantation is establishing itself as a global brand for organic luxury chocolate.

Until 1975 the Diogo Vaz plantation was privately owned by the Lisbon headquartered Companhia Agrícola Vale Flor who also howned Rio do Ouro in Guadalupe, Bela Vista and Valle Flor in Santo Amaro and Boa Esperança and Nova Estrela in Trindade. After that, Diogo Vaz was nationalized and became a state-owned company Empresa Agropecuária Diogo Vaz, untill 2013 when the concession was took over by a private society owned by the french investor Jean-Rémy Martin engaged in producing organic luxury chocolate from rare cocoa varieties.

Tree to bar

The company operates a 420 hectare which has been replanted with 150,000 cocoa trees, which include the unique Amelonado and Trinitario varieties endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe. It currently exports bulk and tablet chocolate to France, Portugal and the Gambia. The company, which employs 250 people, exports 12 tonnes of fine chocolate every two months.

Diogo Vaz holds public tastings and open factory tours to educate the community about chocolate making and the company’s vision of making good chocolate through investing in the community.