Cocoa production in Samoa

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Cocoa is grown in Samoa for domestic consumption and export. German colonists introduced the cocoa tree ( Theobroma cacao ) to Samoa in 1883, although oral tradition claims it arrived many centuries earlier around 700. Cocoa cultivation became widespread by the end of the 19th century, and a hybrid variety known as Samoan Trinitario (or koko Samoa) emerged, praised by contemporary buyers for its fine flavor. Colonial authorities initially brought indentured workers from Melanesia and later China to grow the labor-intensive crop. Production peaked in the 1960s but declined in the following decades of independent Samoa. Cocoa exports from Samoa have been steadily rising since revival attempts started in 2012, but most cocoa in Samoa continues to be consumed domestically, particularly as a drink also named koko Samoa.

Contents

History

German colonial period

From left to right: Forastero, Trinitario, and Criollo cocoa pods Tres variedades de cacao.jpg
From left to right: Forastero, Trinitario, and Criollo cocoa pods

According to oral tradition, travelers from Peru brought cocoa to Samoa around 700, along with other crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes. [1] However, documented cocoa cultivation did not begin until 1883, when German colonists brought plants of the Criollo variant from British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka). [2] [3] : 307  The Germans intended to grow cocoa mainly as an export crop. [4] : 1  At that time, the Samoan Islands were under the tripartite colonial administration of Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [5] : 626  Cocoa cultivation began in earnest in 1892, through the efforts of American merchant and planter Harry Jay Moors. Hoping to enrich the island amid the cocoa boom of the 1890s, Moors advertised and distributed detailed guides on how to grow the cocoa tree and sold 250,000 seeds at cost between 1895 and 1896. Mataʻafa Iosefo, the paramount chief of Samoa, had about 700 cocoa trees by 1898. [5] : 626  That same year, Forastero plants (specifically of the Amelonado type) were introduced from Java and planted alongside surviving Criollo plants. The resultant hybrid of the two is known as Samoan Trinitario or koko Samoa. [2] German and American companies praised the fine quality of Samoan cocoa; for example, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in San Francisco remarked that Samoan cocoa was "superior in flavor and strength to that of Ceylon". [5] : 628 

Cocoa was popular among foreign planters in Samoa because it was well-suited for mixed plantations. Banana, papaya, and rubber trees provided shade for young cocoa trees, while pumpkins were grown to shade the ground. During the Samoan "cocoa rush" of 1898, the Samoa Weekly Herald predicted that cocoa would become the islands' main export. [5] : 628  However, the indigenous Samoan workforce that had toiled on the plantations for the first decade of cultivation was inadequate. The German Trade and Plantations Society for the South Sea Islands (DHPG) was given sole permission by colonial authorities to recruit indentured laborers from German New Guinea, the Gilbert Islands (now part of Kiribati), and the New Hebrides (present-day Vanuatu). Seasonal workers also arrived from Niue. [5] : 627 

Map of the Samoan Islands with present-day political boundaries. German Samoa eventually became the Independent State of Samoa. Samoa islands 2002.gif
Map of the Samoan Islands with present-day political boundaries. German Samoa eventually became the Independent State of Samoa.

The Second Samoan Civil War resulted in the partition of the Samoan Islands between Germany and the United States, and the exit of the British, who had previously opposed the import of Chinese labor. In 1903, Wilhelm Solf, the governor of German Samoa, approved the first wave of indentured workers from China, arranged and promoted by the Prussian planter Richard Deeken  [ de ]. By 1914, a total of 3,868 Chinese workers had been recruited. [5] : 628  The German colonial administration encouraged foreign planters, including remaining Britons, to hire Chinese workers. However, Chinese workers complained of physical abuse and arbitrary wage cuts, particularly on Deeken's plantations. [5] : 629 

A worker named Cheng Wing sent a letter to his uncle in Hong Kong, who publicly displayed a poster on his behalf alleging Chinese workers in Samoa had been hit, kicked, and caned, with ten men dying from their abuse. Chinese officials launched two investigations with scathing conclusions, and the Chinese consul to Samoa formally protested, saying the Chinese were "laborers and not slaves". [5] : 629  Deeken was never punished for his treatment of his workers, but hundreds of Chinese did consequently leave Samoa, and Deeken's cocoa plantations suffered a net loss by 1913 in comparison to DHPG's, which employed New Guineans. By the end of German rule over Samoa in 1914, the islands had 2,184 Chinese and 877 Melanesian indentured workers. [5] : 629 

New Zealand period

German Samoa was occupied and administered by New Zealand during and after World War I, from 1914 to 1920. The New Zealanders were initially hesitant to use Chinese indentured labor on cocoa plantations, but they were swayed by the rising price of cocoa amid the war, which jumped from £37 to £60 per ton pre-war, to £130 per ton during. [5] : 630  Cocoa production in Samoa peaked in 1917 at 1,266 tons. [5] : 625 

In 1924, the then administrator of the Western Samoa mandate George Spafford Richardson announced that Chinese laborers would officially be "free" and no longer indentured. However, nothing change in actuality as the workers' new contracts still tied them to the plantations and prevented them from owning land. Nonetheless, the de jure change was done in the spirit of the League of Nations' postwar ambitions, to appease the Chinese Republican government, and to soften relations between China and the United Kingdom, amid labor disputes in Hong Kong and Guangdong. [5] : 631  The recruitment of Chinese workers to Samoa was banned in 1934, and the New Zealand Labor government began repatriating dozens of Chinese in 1936, despite the protests of plantation owners. [5] : 637  In 1950, the High Commissioner for Samoa reported that the 171 Chinese workers who had remained on Samoa's cocoa plantations would become free residents. [5] : 638 

In the 1960s, commercial cocoa production in Samoa peaked and cocoa became the islands' second-largest export earner. [6] [7]

21st-century revival

Cocoa production in Samoa had fallen to a handful of cocoa farmers by the early 2000s. [7] However, the industry has seen a revival since 2012, with cocoa exports consistently increasing every year since. [8] The 2019 Samoa Agriculture Census listed cocoa as a top-five crop of the country, with over 15,923 agricultural households growing it, representing a 19 percent increase over the previous decade. [4] : 2  [9]

Production, consumption, and export

Samoa has a tropical environment suitable for cocoa cultivation, with heavy rainfall and volcanic soil rich in nitrogen. Cocoa plantations cover approximately 1,966.3 hectares (4,859 acres) of agricultural land in Samoa, with each cocoa grower dedicating an average of 0.06 hectares (0.15 acres) to the crop. [4] : 2  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Samoa produced 482 tons of cocoa in 2023, ranking 40th out of 57 countries that year. [10]

While cocoa is primarily an export crop elsewhere in Oceania, most Samoan cocoa is consumed locally as a drink named koko Samoa. [4] : 1  [11] : 3  Koko Samoa is a chocolate drink made from a type of cocoa mass, also called koko Samoa, which consists of ground fermented or unfermented cocoa beans. The mass is typically prepared by women and is in year-round demand in both local and export markets, particularly in New Zealand, Australia, and American Samoa. [4] : 2–3  The drink is also sold at local markets by cocoa growers and their families, nearly all of whom (97% as of 2025) are subsistence farmers. [4] : 2  [11]

References

  1. ↑ Weybrecht, Giselle (2 September 2022). "All About Koko Samoa, Samoa's national hot chocolate". Ultimate Hot Chocolate. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 Faasau, Gutu (1 November 2023). "Push to increase Samoan cocoa exports". Samoa Observer . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  3. ↑ Dillon, Natalie L.; Zhang, Dapeng; Nauheimer, Lars; Toramo, Elison; Nagalevu, Paitia; Melteras, Marie-Vianney; Wallez, Sandrine; Finau, Kuinimeri; Nakidakida, Sefanaia; Lepou, Petelo; Diczbalis, Yan (1 October 2024). "Understanding the cocoa genetic resources in the Pacific to assist producers to supply the growing craft market" . New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science. 52 (4): 306–320. doi:10.1080/01140671.2023.2278788. ISSN   0114-0671 . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "OCOP factsheets: Samoa / Cocoa". One Country One Priority Product (OCOP). Food and Agriculture Organization. 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Martínez, Julia T. (1 June 2025). "Cultivating Pacific Cocoa: Chinese Plantation Labor in Colonial Era Samoa and Vanuatu". Journal of Social History. 58 (4): 622–645. doi: 10.1093/jsh/shae027 . ISSN   0022-4529 . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  6. ↑ "Industry Focus: Chocolate Industry in the Pacific set to grow". Pacific Trade Invest. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Good Honest Samoan Cocoa: Reconnecting with our Pacific family". Whittaker's. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Cocoa Production" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. May 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Samoa – OCOP: Cocoa". One Country One Priority Product (OCOP). Food and Agriculture Organization . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "Cocoa Producing Countries 2025". World Population Review. Food and Agriculture Organization . Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  11. 1 2 "Pacific Cocoa Export Industry Overview" (PDF). Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access Program. Government of Australia. July 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
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