Tayasan Cacao Area
Description
Upland cacao cultivation in Tayasan barangays. In Tayasan, a northeast upland town away from the main coastal traffic. Cacao here is backyard-scale rather than plantation — trees in house lots, beans dried on mats, then roasted, ground and pressed into tablea discs. Tablea is pure cacao with nothing added; it’s what sikwate and champorado are made from. Buy at the town market and ask for the local one rather than a commercial brand.
Tips
Cacao here is made for household use rather than sale, so there"s no shopfront to find. Asking at barangay level gets you further than looking for a producer with a sign — go with someone local if you can.
Stops
Dumaguete–Valencia Food Belt
How to get there
Northeast upland, inland from the coastal highway — habal-habal from the coast road is usually the last leg.
Best Times
Early morning — markets, landings and roadside stalls all run hardest before 8am.