The valleys and hillsides around Chone are among the most important cacao-producing areas in Ecuador, which is itself the world's leading producer of fine-flavor arriba cacao. The Nacional variety, grown in Manabí for centuries, is prized by European chocolatiers for its complex floral and fruity notes — a character that commodity cacao from West Africa cannot replicate.
Several farms in the Chone area receive visitors informally, particularly those supplying to fair-trade and organic exporters. A visit involves walking the cacao groves — trees that grow beneath shade canopy in a system that preserves forest cover — seeing the pods harvested or fermenting, and understanding the gap between raw cacao and the finished chocolate it eventually becomes. Arrangements are not formalized as tourist packages; the most reliable approach is to ask at the Asociación de Cacao in the city center or at the municipal office about which cooperatives are currently welcoming visitors.
The farms are typically 10–25 km from the city center, reachable by shared taxi or arranged transport.