Cocoa production in São Tomé and Príncipe
However, the revelation of poor labour conditions on the islands by British journalists led to boycotts of São Toméan cocoa by European chocolate manufacturers, notably including Cadbury.
The islands' forests were first cleared in the early 16th century for sugarcane plantations, and, through the use of slave labour, the colony became the largest producer of sugar in the world during this period.
The Industrial Revolution in Europe had, by the late 19th century, turned chocolate from an expensive and bitter drink to a cheap and affordable confectionery.
[6][7] At the same time, however, Portugal had gradually lost its colonial hold over Brazil, amid a global financial and moral shift away from slave labour.
[3][10][11] The United Kingdom's three largest chocolate makers at the time – J. S. Fry & Sons, Rowntree's, and the Cadbury Brothers – all sourced their cocoa primarily from São Tomé and Príncipe.
[12] São Tomé and Príncipe's cocoa production was overtaken by that of the British colony of the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) in 1911.
The Portuguese government aimed to remedy its poor financial situation, which included fiscal deficits in other colonies, through revenue earned from São Tomé and Príncipe's wealthy elites.
[13] São Toméan cocoa farmers complained when the duty was raised to 18 reis per kilogram in 1894, which was done by the Portuguese government to make up for a rural land tax that had rarely been collected.
They argued that the 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) of railway, single short road, and basic iron quay they received in return were inadequate compensation.
[16] A renewed attempt in 1901, amid a fall in cocoa prices, was successful, prompting São Toméan plantation owners to launch an even larger scheme in 1906.
[17] Slave labour and indentured servitude were used to produce cocoa during the industry's period of growth and prosperity in São Tomé and Príncipe.
[18] However, Europeans and most Forros (freed slaves and their descendants) refused to work in the labour-intensive plantations, prompting Portugal to turn to the African mainland for a replacement labour force.
Between 1888 and 1908, an estimated 67,000 Africans were hired to work on cocoa plantations in São Tomé and Príncipe; contemporary sources recorded a few cases of forced recruitment.
[18] In August 1906, Arthur Nightingale, who was investigating labour conditions in São Tomé and Príncipe for the British Foreign Office, submitted a report to his superiors in which he concluded that the "slaves had been renamed serviçias".
[22] By the 1910s, cocoa production in São Tomé and Príncipe had entered a steep decline due to European boycotts, infestations, and plant diseases.
[28] The new government of independent São Tomé and Príncipe hoped to diversify the economy by nationalising the roças and centrally planning the production of cocoa.
[10] Financial assistance from the World Bank in the 1980s and a transition to a free market economy in 1990 failed to rejuvenate cocoa production on the islands.
[30] Popular demand internationally for organic chocolate has also translated to a growing focus on São Toméan cocoa's organoleptic quality.
According to the US Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook, the yellow in São Tomé and Príncipe's national flag symbolises cocoa.
