Ixcacao Mayan chocolate experience

Visit the artisan chocolate making company Ixcacao in Belize's cocoa district, Toledo.

In Belize there are a number of cultural tours offering authentic experiences of aspects of Mayan and Garifuna living cultures and Mayan archaeology.

Visit Toledo, the centre of cacao (cocoa) manufacture, where most of the end product is exported to be made into Green & Blacks Maya Gold organic chocolate, the first Fairtrade product introduced into the UK in 1994.

Ixcacao is a small operation established in Belize’s San Felipe village. Ixcacao means the Queen of Cacao, Goddess of Fertility and Happiness in the Maya Ke`kchi dialect.

The firm is run by a young Maya couple who invite you to familiarise yourself with the chocolate-making process which has been practised for hundreds of years, using simple stone tools passed down through the generations of manufacturers. Of course there’s the opportunity to sample their wares!

Belize

Toledo and the south