THE BEANS

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The PeopleThe TreesThe PodsThe BeansThe TradeThe FactoryThe ShopYou

There are 30–40 cocoa beans in a pod. The cocoa beans and gooey pulp are removed from the cocoa pod carefully by hand.

They are wrapped in banana leaves and left to ferment in the shade. Inside the leaf parcels it becomes really hot. The heat makes the pulp ferment, which means that bacteria and yeasts in the pulp multiply. This releases chemicals that give the cocoa beans their chocolatey flavour and colour.

Nothing is wasted: the split open pods are turned into compost to help the trees grow or are burned and the ash is used to make a kind of soap which is cheap and works really well.

 

After a week of fermenting in banana leaves, the beans are spread out onto long bamboo tables and dried in the sun for up to 10 days. As the beans dry they shrink in size as they lose a lot of the water inside them.

Kuapa cocoa farmers turn the beans regularly by hand, making sure that they all dry thoroughly and any poor quality beans are chucked out. That’s why only the very 'best of the best' beans make it into Dubble and Divine chocolate!

Now they are dried, the cocoa beans are ready - the farming’s all done and now it's time to trade the beans!