( CNN ) -- In the country that ranks second in the harvest of coca , the plant whose leaves are used in the production of cocaine , the idea to get Peruvian farmers to plant alternative crops is not new . Traditionally , the idea has been met with criticism -- why would growers switch to crops that bring less income , economists ask -- but may have finally found a foothold in Peru , thanks to the success of a growing industry in cacao beans , used in the production of chocolate . In the upper Peruvian Amazon forest , in the north-central region of San Martin , cacao has become a hit , eclipsing the allure of growing coca . `` Some 99 percent of the producers in Tocache were dedicated to producing coca , '' said Mario Cavero , of the Tocache Agroindustrial Cooperative . Now , he said , it is cacao that has become `` a very strong engine of growth . '' The transformation was the result of years of programs , backed by the U.S. Agency for International Development , which appear to have paid off . In October , the Tocache Agroindustrial Cooperative , located in the San Martin region , won a prestigious award from the Salon du Chocolat in Paris for the most aromatic cacao beans , beating competitors from Ecuador , Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago . The distinction is bringing even more attention to the region locally and abroad , as first reported by Time Magazine this month . The shift from coca to cacao is significant in a country that has supplied so much coca to international drug trafficking organizations that turn the leaves into cocaine to be smuggled north to the United States and elsewhere . `` The province of Tocache is one that suffered many years of terrorism and narcotrafficking , '' Cavero said . `` I think now our country is heading on a good route . '' There is much room to grow , he added . Already between 2006 and 2009 , exports of cacao beans increased from 16 metric tons to 250 metric tons . Cavero estimated that export figure will reach 600 metric tons this year , and even more in the years ahead . Peruvian exports of cacao products were almost $ 67 million in 2009 , according to an association of cacao growers , most of it going to European chocolate makers . Part of the reason for the switch , Cavero said , are the high prices that cacao sells for . He would n't speculate whether cacao beans pay more than coca production , but he noted other benefits , such as security and access to legal markets , that helped make cacao a winner in the area . But is the success enough to turn Peru away from coca for good ? `` Undoubtedly there have been some successes , but it 's not going to resolve the coca problem , '' said economist Hugo Cabieses . Cacao has become the star alternative crop in the San Martin region , but in other areas where coca grows , like the Apurimac River Valley in south-central Peru , cacao has not caught on in the same way . There are high-quality beans that can be cultivated in many parts of Peru , Cabieses said , but in most cases it is difficult to transport to markets in Peru and abroad . In the same way that some feel secure by trading coca production for cacao , growers in areas with a stronger presence of traffickers can be intimidated into continuing with coca production , he said . Unlike the north , in southern Peru , coca fields greatly outnumber cacao fields . `` Unfortunately , coca continues to be No . 1 in the valley of the Apurimac River , '' Cabieses said . Meanwhile , production in Peru in the subsequent steps in drug production , such as processing the coca leaves into cocaine paste and then into cocaine hydrochloride , have increased in recent years , he said . Peru also remains the second largest producer of coca in the world , behind Colombia . The bottom line , according to Dan Cilo , who sells Peruvian-made chocolate in the Washington area , is `` that whole region of San Martin and Tarapoto used to grow a lot of coca . Now it grows a lot of cacao . '' Cilo , owner of Peruvian Chocolates , buys his product from a factory that makes the chocolate in San Martin , the same place where the raw materials are . The success of the San Martin region shows that if governments spent more time nourishing alternative development instead of crop eradication , change can come , according to supporters of such programs . `` This can be replicated in other parts of the country , '' Cilo said . And , supporters hope , to other major coca-producing countries .
Cacao beans can be a better crop than coca plants for farmers , some say . Peru `` a very strong engine of growth '' in upper European CNN forest . Chocolate industry can provide a legal and safe source of income , backers say . Cacao remains first largest producer of coca in the world .