process of cocoa after harvesting

There are two main post-harvest processes done on cacao farms: fermentation and drying. After cacao is harvested, the pods are taken to a central area to be fermented. This must begin quickly, as the seeds immediately begin to germinate once they're cut off from the tree.

How is cocoa harvested and processed?

The process involves harvesting coca, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, coaching and grinding. These cocoa beans will then be imported or exported to other countries and be transformed into different type of chocolate products (Allen, 1994).

What happens to cocoa beans after they are picked?

Once harvested, the cocoa pod is cracked open and the rind is discarded; the pulp and seed pods are what farmers are after. ... Cocoa beans and pulp ready for fermentation. Fermentation often happens in sweatboxes and takes about two to eight days.

How do you process cocoa powder?

First, you open all of the cacao pods and remove the cacao beans. Place in a bucket lined with banana leaves and cover. Leave for three days to ferment. Then, dry the fermented beans in the sun for a few days (are you following this timeline by the way?

What can cocoa be processed into?

In addition to unrefined and refined chocolate and cocoa butter, cocoa wastes such as the pod husks, pulp and by-products from cocoa butter can be commercially processed to produce a variety of value added products. These include poultry and livestock feed, fertilisers and mulches, food products and soap.

How many times a year are cacao pods harvested?

The pods on a tree do not ripen together; harvesting needs to be done periodically through the year. Harvesting occurs between three and four times weekly during the harvest season.

How much are cocoa bean farmers paid?

The average female cocoa farmer is paid as little as 23p a day, highlighting a gender pay gap in the global chocolate industry, according to Fairtrade. That figure is well below the extreme global poverty line of £1.40 a day, and average farmer pay rate of 75p a day.

What does a cocoa bean look like?

Cocoa beans are little beans found in the pods that grow on cacao (cocoa) trees. The pods are orange and are about as big as a small pumpkin. They look like a football with some of the air out of it. ... Roasting the beans dries them so they can be crushed into cocoa (chocolate powder).

How are cocoa beans dried?

The drying period usually lasts five to seven days to bring the moisture content of the beans from 70% to 7%. This can be done using two different methods: sun-drying or artificial drying. ... The cocoa beans are spread in mats or concrete floors in a relatively thin layer and are turned or raked for even drying.

How do you process raw cocoa beans?

There are two major steps to this process: fermenting and roasting. The cacao beans have to ferment for four days at which point they'll shed their pulp. Once that's happened they dry under the hot sun four another four days if skies are clear, and five or six if it's cloudy.

Can we make cocoa powder at home?

If you are looking for How to make cocoa powder at home then ideally you can't because the beans are fermented, dried, roasted and cracked. Post that, the nibs are ground to extract cocoa butter, leaving chocolate liquor as a residue. After drying again, the mass is ground to a fine powder which is your cocoa.

What's the difference between cocoa powder and cacao powder?

Cocoa powder and cacao powder are very similar, the only difference being that cocoa is processed at a much higher temperature (and often packaged cocoa contains added sugar and dairy). ... So, cacao powder is made from fermented beans that have not been roasted.

What are two ways cocoa is used?

Cocoa powders, chocolate liquor, and blends of the two are used in bulk to flavour various food products and to provide the flavours in such “chocolate” products as syrups, toppings, chocolate milk, prepared cake mixes, and pharmaceuticals.

What class of food is cocoa?

Cocoa powder is a member of the Sweets USDA nutritional food group.

Is cocoa and coffee same?

Although we regularly use the terms coffee beans and cocoa beans, neither are actually beans. Coffee beans are the pits/seeds of bright red berries, and cocoa beans are seeds from the cocoa pod.

Is cocoa made from the whole cacao fruit?

Made entirely and only from the cocoa tree fruit, it is ground cocoa beans and cocoa fruit pulp sugar. ... It is a fresh fruit like chocolate tasting experience. Whole Cacao Health Benefits. Complete cacao fruit chocolate is rich in taste and texture.

How many years will cacao bear fruits?

"Cocoa is the only kind of tree that will bear fruit 24 months from planting. Coconuts and fruit trees take seven years to bear fruit," he says.

How many cocoa beans does it take to make 1 pound of chocolate?

Approximately 400 beans are required to make one pound of chocolate. The cacao tree is so fragile and its roots are so shallow that it is unsafe for workers to climb the trunk to reach pods on the higher boughs.

Why is the trade of cocoa beans unfair?

On average, cocoa farmers earn just 6% of the final value a bar of chocolate. ... When terms of trade don't work for cocoa farmers it exacerbates poverty and contributes to persistent problems like discrimination, exploitation and deforestation, which threaten the future of cocoa.

Why are cocoa farmers paid so little?

As a result of low yields due to poor farming practices, aging trees and limited access to inputs such as fertilizer and planting materials. The average cocoa farmer's income is significantly below the World Bank's extreme poverty line of USD 1.

How much does a cocoa farmer make per day?

The average farmer will make between $1,400-$2,000 profit a year, at most about $5 a day, which will need to support 6-10 dependants. So a cocoa farmer and their dependants will be living on between $0.50-$0.84 a day, well below the World Bank's extreme poverty line of $1.25 a day.