Chocolate lowland climate in the narrow band of latitudes where cacao is grown (20 degrees north and south of the equator), the commercial company Mars, Incorporated and the University of California, Berkeley are conducting genomic research in 2017–18 to improve the survivability of cacao plants in hot climates. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and fermented seeds of the cacao tree ("Theobroma cacao"), a small, 4–8 m tall (15–26 ft tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. Recent genetic studies suggest the most common genotype of the plant originated in the Amazon basin and
Hacienda Cacao Hacienda Cacao Hacienda Cacao is located off the Carretera Uman-Hopelceh (Uman-Hopelceh highway) within Abalá Municipality, Mexico, and is in the South West Region 8 area of the State of Yucatán. It is one of the properties that arose during the nineteenth century henequen boom, and was owned by José María Ponce. Cacao comes from ka'kaw, which in the Mayan language means "cocoa" (Theobroma cacao). The hacienda was built by José María Ponce who issued his own hacienda tokens of special design in 1889 which are highly prized by coin collectors. Ponce grew henequén on the plantation, was considered a master