Madagascar - Sambirano

Lucien Millot, a native of Nantua in east France, immigrated to Madagascar in 1901. He started a plantation where he grew coffee, coconut trees, cassava and vanilla. He also distilled citronella and ylang-ylang and harvested pepper. In 1920 he added his first cacao trees, shipped by the Botanic Garden of Buitenzorg (ex-Bogor) in Java. Millot’s original property was split into parcels. One of these parcels was bought in the 70’s by a Swedish trader and ex-diplomat by the name of Carl Gustaf Bertil Åkesson.

Nowadays Bertil Åkesson is the proud bearer of his father’s cacao heritage and produces top quality cacao at the Åkesson Organic Plantation (formerly known as Sagit). The plantation is located in the lush Sambirano Valley and spread on a property of 5,300 hectares.

The cacao grown here is a mix of Criollo and Trinitario varieties. Besides cacao, coffee and pepper are grown on the same property. Åkesson Organic also runs a separate plantation for the production and extraction of of ylang ylang, Åkesson Organic pride themselves in their sustainable production methods and are an example of social and environmental entrepreneurship.