The event in Tapachula, Chiapas, hosted farmers, producers, members of the government and research institutes.
It formed part of Hershey “Mexico Cocoa Project”, a 10-year, $2.8 million initiative in collaboration with Agroindustrias Unidas de Cacao SA de CV, a member of the Ecom Cocoa Group, to restore cocoa growing in Mexico.
The Chipas region has been blighted by tree disease Moniliasis, also known as frosty pod rot – which has almost halved cocoa yields since 2005.
Hershey announced its project last year and has since built and maintained nurseries to grow disease-resistant trees.
Following the summit, Hershey has now begun to distribute the first 100,000 disease-resistant trees to cocoa farmers.