General News
19 February, 2026
Sweet option to sugar cane
COCOA farming is shaping up to be a sweet alternative to sugar cane crops in the Douglas Shire.
Douglas Shire is home to Australia’s oldest cocoa plantation, just outside Port Douglas, which was originally part of a government and private industry joint venture to investigate cocoa growing, with initial trials between 1998 and 1999. This was later extended and is still in existence today.
The initial farmer of over 10 years was one of the original Daintree Estates growers. His cocoa was used to make Daintree Estates chocolate, formed in 2011 as the world’s first made chocolate from cocoa grown in Australia. In 2015, Australian Cocoa was acknowledged at the Cocoa of Excellence Awards in Paris.
Australian Cocoa and Chocolate Purveyors managing director Tim Davies, who was a co-founder of the Daintree Estates chocolate brand, said the industry had stalled.
“You’d expect with such a strong start, cocoa growing in Australia would be flourishing today, but sadly, it has stalled.”
There is an estimated 20ha of cocoa plantations in Australia, all of which sit along the Queensland coast from Innisfail to Mossman. The closure of a central cocoa processing facility in Mossman several years ago was a major blow to the region, creating uncertainty for cocoa growers.
Feeling betrayed, some farmers have abandoned their cocoa plantations, some sold their farms, while others have turned to fermenting and drying cocoa beans themselves.
“Right now, there isn’t enough cocoa being grown locally to keep up with domestic demand for Australian grown chocolate,” Mr Davies said.
“That’s a huge opportunity for forward-looking farmers to get into cocoa growing, knowing it’s in such strong demand.”
Mr Davies is on a mission to rebuild the cocoa growing community and he’s calling for more farmers in Far North Queensland to establish cocoa plantations as a crop diversification strategy.
The closure of Mossman Central Mill in 2024 highlights the risk of placing too much reliance on a single crop such as sugar cane. While there are government incentives in place, smart farmers are already implementing crop diversification strategies.
Mr Davies believes cocoa is the perfect diversification crop for any farm.
“You don’t need a large area and the profit per hectare for a well-managed cocoa plantation can be significantly higher than sugarcane,” he said.
“Without cocoa plantations, chocolate wouldn’t exist. Nobody wants to imagine that world.”
