Cocoa production: cultivation and production route
Cocoa is not the same as cocoa. There are decisive factors in the production that influence the quality and "fairness" of the chocolate ingredient. We have collected the most important aspects of cultivation and production.
Cocoa production begins with growing and harvesting
The cultivation of cocoa needs a tropical climate. Countries like South America, Africa and parts of South-East Asia offer ideal conditions for this. There the cocoa trees (Theobroma cacao) mostly grow on plantations of smallholder farms. The trees bear fruit all year round.
- Depending on the country of cultivation, there is a main and a secondary harvest period in which the cocoa fruits ripen in a different rhythm. On the Ivory Coast and Brazil, for example, the main harvest period extends from October to March, in Ecuador and Colombia from March to June.
- As soon as the fruits of the cocoa tree turn yellow, the harvest worker knocks them off the trunk with a machete or a picking knife.
- The cocoa fruits ripen lying on the ground for a few days, are then divided and the cocoa beans together with the white fruit pulp are removed and placed in suitable fermentation containers - often large wooden boxes, sometimes also barrels.
- According to the old processing tradition, the cocoa farmers cover this bean pulp mass with banana leaves. The fermentation begins: after five to seven days, the pulp has detached from the cocoa beans and decomposed.
- The cocoa beans now have a slightly purple color and the first cocoa flavors are already forming. These develop further in the subsequent careful drying phase.
- In a classic way, the beans are left to dry in the sun for about six days, but must be protected from rain.
- In some places, the cocoa raw material is also dried in drying ovens. This is usually much faster, but it also has problems. The exhaust gases from the drying plant sometimes contaminate the cocoa beans with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzoapyrene.
Processing the cocoa beans
With a residual moisture (water) of around 6 to 8 percent, the cocoa beans migrate to the collection point and their quality is checked. Only a few of the brown seeds are processed directly in the country of cultivation. Most cocoa beans go as a raw material on a long journey to the processing plants in Europe, North America or Asia.
- Processing begins with cleaning and usually debacterization, i.e. hot air or steam treatment. Then the roasting follows. At a gentle maximum of 150 degrees, further aromas and the typical dark brown color develop.
- The beans are then broken and the peel removed. The manufacturer grinds the cocoa fraction into the cocoa paste.
- The cocoa butter melts from this fine mass solely through the frictional heat. About half of the fat is squeezed out. From a technical point of view this is called de-oiling.
Trend towards more environment and fairness
When buying, pay attention to environmentally friendly production and fair quality. Interest has been growing for years, but also the range of organic goods and fair trade cocoa. Nevertheless, there are differences here that you should know.
- Conventionally grown cocoa in monocultures has long been promoted as a guarantee of a stable cocoa harvest. In the meantime it turned out to be the opposite: the yields collapsed. The use of fertilizers and pesticides ate up the revenue in such conditions.
- In the meantime, environmentally friendly organic farming is considered a better alternative for cocoa cultivation. The combination with bananas, papaya and various types of palm trees ensures long-term soil fertility and reduces the susceptibility of the cocoa trees to pests.
- Cocoa with the seal of organic farming associations such as Naturland or Demeter signal high environmental protection standards. You can also pay attention to the EU organic label when purchasing, which is, however, considered to be less strict.
- Protecting cocoa farmers is no less important. Conventional cocoa cultivation is still considered risky and unfair for many small farmers or employees on plantations: the prices on the world market are not enough for many families to secure their lives. Child labor is still a problem area in harvesting, especially in countries in West Africa.
- For years there have been initiatives for a more socially fair wage for cocoa farmers and a ban on employing children. The leaders are the Fairtrade organization and the Gepa company. Individual organic producers are also committed to fair production conditions. By joining together in cooperatives, the individual farmers are strengthened and receive fairer prices on the market.
- There is even a state commitment to fair cocoa products: the Forum for Sustainable Cocoa eV has brought together the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the German confectionery industry, the German food trade and civil society.
- The forum's common goal is to create better conditions for cocoa producers. But also the long-term securing of the cocoa raw material markets - an essential point that is currently of particular concern to chocolate manufacturers, because young cocoa trees and youngsters are missing from cocoa farmers due to poor conditions.
Ingenious magic trick: The chocolate doesn't get any less
Would you like to prepare drinking chocolate but don't have cocoa in the house? Maybe chocolate is still in stock. Then you can make a cocoa drink yourself.