Bean to Bar

insert graphic that Peggie B has done

Growing and Harvesting Cacao

Cocoa or cacao grows on a tree in the Theobroma cacao species. The average cocoa tree produces 40 pods per year and each pod contains 40 seeds or beans. The beans are inside the cacoa fruit, the white pulp seen below.

Fermenting and Drying

Cocoa beans are fermented for 6 days and then dried another 8 days. On the left, below is a farmer fermenting a small batch of beans. On the right below is the box fermentation method for larger quanities. On the right are beans drying in the sun.

Sorting, Roasting, Cracking, and Winnowing

The 'cut test' (left) is used to select the high quality beans needed for the best chocolate chocolate products. Below left the beans are sorted. After the beans are roasted (below center) and cracked, the winnower (below right) separtates the valuable cacoa nibs from the outer shells.

Production of Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Powder, and Chocolate

Below top right is the large press located at the Village Production Center. The nibs are ground into chocolate liquor. The press creates two products from the liquor -- cocoa butter (top, 2nd from left) and the press cake which is ground into cocoa powder (top 2nd from right). The melengeur (top right) further grinds and mixes the liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar together to make chocolate which is tempered and then molded. On the bottom row, left to right, you can see Jerome tempering the chocolate, molding the bars, unmolding a batch, and the final product -- a chocolate bar.