With record attendance, ExpoCacau closed on August 27 drawing 7,000 people to the Convention Center in Ilheús, state of Bahia, over the course of three days.
With record attendance, ExpoCacau closed on August 27 drawing 7,000 people to the Convention Center in Ilheús, state of Bahia, over the course of three days. The trade fair brought together cocoa farmers, experts, professionals of the cocoa supply chain, industry leaders, associations, students, and civil society organizations to discuss opportunities for the sector and the tools needed to drive the sustainable development of cocoa production.
This second edition further established ExpoCacau as a key event on Brazil’s national cocoa industry calendar, attracting cocoa farmers from every region of the country, including groups of growers coming from the states of Pará, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, São Paulo and various parts of Bahia, as well as representatives from 11 countries such as Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, the USA, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay, among others.
The ExpoCacau exhibition venue was 25% larger this year in comparison with the inaugural event in 2025, featuring more than 60 booths representing over 75 brands and companies – approximately 5,000 square meters of exhibition space. Exhibitors included suppliers of seedlings, greenhouses, irrigation technology, tricycles, tractors, drones, tools for cultivation, fertilizers, agrochemicals and different types of equipment, besides cooperatives, cocoa industry companies, financial services and certification organizations. The fair enables farmers to get to know new technologies for cocoa and to access and purchase key inputs and machinery while promoting a healthy and competitive business environment.
The lecture program at ExpoCacau was also expanded in 2026 by adding a silent conference area called Knowledge Arena held amidst the trade fair. It attracted more than 1,900 attendees during the three days with 30-minute presentations addressing market perspectives and key issues affecting the cocoa sector, such as technologies for higher productivity, technical assistance, traceability, disease control, farm management and digital tools.
The 8th National Cocoa Forum, held at the Grand Auditorium, with capacity for 1,200 participants, had industry leaders and experts from the cocoa sector (and a few from the coffee sector too) discussing current challenges, innovation, and opportunities for Brazil to become a major cocoa producer in the coming years, recovering its previous protagonism. While the national cocoa production is currently estimated at around 200,000 tons per year, there is a strategic sectoral plan – Inova Cacau 2030 Plan – in motion to reach 400,000 tons in the next 4 years.
A total of 60 lectures targeted at cocoa farmers were held in addition to 7 capacity building sessions and workshops conducted by partners on cocoa fermentation, cocoa sensorial analysis, farm management, prevention and management of pests and diseases, and health and safety in cocoa production among other relevant themes.
ExpoCacau makes it clear how important an innovation, technology, and information-sharing event is for the sector. Several cocoa producers, from smallholders to large growers, praised the event as a meeting space that fosters connections and strengthens the value chain, while disseminating knowledge and driving innovation in the field. “ExpoCacau brings knowledge and unity to the cocoa supply chain. I was very pleased to see the turnout and the even stronger lineup of presentations compared with last year,” said leading cocoa producer Claudia Sá of Agrícola Cantagalo.
Paulo Peixinho, producer and industry leader, emphasized the importance of ExpoCacau in bringing the sector together. “It is a vital space for building relationships, learning about innovation and production processes that are essential to cocoa farming, and gaining a broader perspective on the market.”
“This fair has been a place where I can gain knowledge, which is exactly what I come here for. I live in a rural area and I am a smallholder farmer. I plant, prune, harvest—I do everything on my farm. I come here to learn,” said Maria do Carmo, a cocoa producer from Coaraci, Bahia.
The event also served as a platform for several announcements. Among them was the launch of the Decent Work in Cocoa campaign by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and CocoaAction Brasil.
A milestone for Brazil’s cocoa industry, ExpoCacau is organized by CocoaAction Brasil, a World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) Initiative, in partnership with the Bahia state government and the municipality of Ilhéus. The third edition has already been scheduled for August 24 to 26, 2027, once again in Ilhéus, Bahia.
CocoaAction is a pre-competitive, public-private initiative active in Brazil since 2018, to foster collaboration and sustainable development across the cocoa chain, focusing on cocoa farmers. CocoaAction Brasil has eight funding members – Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Dengo, Harald, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, Ofi – and dozens of partners who work together to deliver collective actions on cocoa sustainability. The initiative is coordinated by P&A, in partnership with the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) in Brazil.
Instagram: @cocoaactionbrasil
LinkedIn: CocoaAction Brasil
