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Due to the proximity of the Tsaratanana mountain range and trade winds, a particular micro-climateoccurs in the Sambirano region. During the rainy season, the river floods and deposits extremelyfertile alluvia along its river banks, providing ideal conditions for many types of crops, especially cacao.
All three varieties of cacao grow along the river banks of Sambirano throughout the year, but with two peak seasons: June/July and October/November. The river is divided in two parts, the upper Sambirano (upstream) and the lower Sambirano (downstream). <!-- Harvesting between from ... to ... is done along the upstream part and from ... to ... along the downstream part. -->
Malagasy cacao has special characteristics due to the unique climate and soil along the Sambirano river. The cacao harvest grown in the region can contain around up to 10% Criollo beans (cacao grown elsewhere typically contain about 5% Criollo). Cacao harvested from Sambirano is especially suited for high quality, low bitterness dark chocolate and is used by premium quality [[Madagascar Chocolate|Malagasy chocolate]] brands such as [[Chocolaterie Robert]] and , [[Cinagra]] and [[Chocolaterie Colbert]]. Malagasy cocao is also exported to the US by fine quality chocolate makers such as [[Amano Chocolate]] and [[Patric Chocolate]].
== Further information ==