Where to Get the Best Cocoa Butter in Brazil

03/16/24  I am wondering where I can pick up a few pounds of the best Brazil cocoa butter when I am in the NordEste next month.Would make my son really happy...Thank you for any help that you can provide.        -@Pablo888

Historically Brazil's cocoa industry centered in southern Bahia where most of the crop was grown, and neighboring Espírito Santo where much of the processing took place.  Brazil was one of the world's bigger producers, although still behind Côte d'Ivoire.  But persistent infestations of Moniliophthora perniciosa, a fungus causing Witch's Broom disease in cacao trees, reduced the crop in Bahia by almost 75% and has kept it suppressed since the 1990s.  The Brazilian Agriculture Ministry is conducting active research to contain the pathogen, but meanwhile domestic production is on life support and manufacturing depends on imported beans.

At shops that specialize in local Bahian foods in crafts markets like the Mercado Modelo in the Cidade Baixa or some in the Pelourinho in the Cidade Alta sections of Salvador it may be able to find some locally grown artesanal chocolate products.