In 2008, together with The Hershey Company, it was decided to support a town in the region of Junín in Peru, which had been devastated by the guerrillas. This town used the cultivation of Cocoa as a means for its reconstruction. The town in question was San Juan de Cheni, at which we help finance the necessary infrastructure so that the cultivation of cocoa is successful.

“From the day we found out about San Juan de Cheni, we knew that this village was something special, ”said Ray Major, Senior Manager of Sustainability Initiatives at The Hershey Company. “The people in this community are intensely motivated to rebuild their community through the cultivation of cocoa and has been It is gratifying to see the village improve its fortune with a little help and support. ” San Juan de Cheni grows a unique variety of cocoa with a distinctive flavor. Before the support, the San Juan de Cheni cocoa farms had approximately 500 trees per hectare and cocoa cultivation had been seen negatively affected by guerrilla activity in the late 1980s and early nineties. The community chose cocoa as their primary crop to help restore its economy, position it for the future and preserve traditional values ​​of agriculture integrated into the culture. The goal was doubling to more than double the number of trees per hectare that cocoa produces. Today, more than 50 farms have more than 1,100 flourishing cocoa trees per hectare and tree stock and yields continue to improve. After more than two years, San Juan de Cheni has rebuilt his community, stabilized village life and established a successful cocoa economy to through the sale of its premium cocoa.

Buy sustainably grown cocoa from the village of San Juan Cheni’s is one of the many ways that Romex positively supports cocoa communities of Peru.