Cacao Harvesting &

Processing
FEBRUARY 6, 2018

How do those brightly coloured cacao pods get turned into your delicious chocolate bar? There
are many stages along the way and there’s no doubt that the chocolatier plays a crucial role
(especially in bean-to-bar chocolate). But the first important steps in making chocolate happen on
the farm, where cacao is harvested and processed.

Just like in specialty coffee, harvesting and processing are crucial for high-quality fine cacao. But
it’s not easy.

Cacao Harvesting
If you’re wondering what cacao actually looks like on the farm, never fear – I’m about to break it
down. Cacao beans grow inside vibrant cacao pods, which grow on tree trunks. They look like
this:

1. Checking for Ripeness

Similar to coffee, cacao picking is a difficult task. And one of the biggest challenges lies in telling
when the pods are ripe. Under-ripe cacao will not yet have developed all its wonderful flavors
and aromas while, as the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) explains, over-ripe ones will
start to germinate.
However, unfortunately, cacao pods don’t always ripen at the same time – even when they’re on
the same tree.

When ripe, some are yellow, some are greenish-yellow, others are completely red, and others
gold.

The inside of a ripe cacao pod harvested; the cacao beans lie inside the white pulp.

2. Picking
Once a producer knows their crop is ready to harvest, they can start to hand-pick the pods. Since
cacao pods ripen at different times, mechanization isn’t possible. Often a machete or a specialized
knife will be used.

You must be really, really careful. This is because cacao pods grow out of fertilized flowers, and
cacao flowers tend to cluster in what we call a “floral pillow. Where one pod has grown, that is
the area where the new flowering will happen again next year. So, if you cut and hurt that area,
you create a wound and the tree will shy away from flowering within the damaged area…
meaning that you will decrease productivity.

What’s more, cacao trees can grow tall. And unlike coffee trees, they’re often allowed to grow to
their full height. If the trees are too high, use hooks that enable you to reach the pods.
 The floral pillow; later, cacao pods will grow in this region

3. Pod & Bean Separation

So, what happens with the harvested pods?

Tuta in Bahia speaks about the process in in his place where he works. On his farm, “the picker
picks the pod and puts it in a basket. They take them to a central area within that orchard. Within
that area, two pickers will place a wooden box and sit across each other and, with a little machete
that is not sharp, they will break the pod.”

Next comes quality control. Much like in specialty coffee, it’s important to inspect and sort the
harvest. “They’ll inspect it and, for our purpose, which is fine cacao, they check the amount of
pulp and ripeness,” Tuta explains. “If it’s overripe, it will not go into the wooden box. It will
go onto a separate plastic sheet.”

But this doesn’t mean the beans go to waste. Tuta explains that they will still be fermented and
sold, but they will be kept separate from the high-quality cacao.
 Two pickers break the cacao pods to separate high-quality and over-ripe ones.

Cacao Processing
Now that the cacao has been harvested and sorted, it’s ready for the next stage: processing. And
this begins with fermentation.

1. Fermentation
Fermentation is when sugars and starches are broken down into acids or alcohol. It’s a key stage
in the production of many types of food and drink, including coffee, alcohol, and cacao. Without
fermentation, we could never have chocolate.

According to Tuta “Cacao is fermented in wooden boxes the same day the harvesting
happens. We have two sizes of fermentation boxes. The small size yields from 170 to 180 kilos
of wet cacao – cacao with pulp – which is more or less a box one by 0.5 by 0.6 meters. And the
big box is double that size, one by one by 0.6 meters.”
Filling the boxes is another moment for quality control. This time, the producers are looking for
witches’ broom, a deformity caused by a fungal disease. According to Scientific American, in
1988 it “reduced production by 80%.” Tuta explains that you can’t see witches’ broom while
harvesting cacao, so they remove affected beans while filling the fermentation boxes.

He advises that the fermentation boxes should be filled at around 4 or 5 pm on the same day as
picking. “[It] is extremely crucial to have them filled… Your fermentation begins when sugars
start to get concentrated and the temperature will start to rise, which can even reach up to
58°C [136.4°F].

“The next morning, at around 8 or 9 o’clock in the morning, you switch the cacao from one box
to another, we call it ‘turn’. With wood or plastic shovels, you turn your cacao. There is a special
procedure while turning based on layers, the beans from the back go to the front, what was at the
front goes in the middle, etc.”

Wet cacao beans being turned during fermentation.

 Tuta continues, “Once you’ve turned it, you close the top with banana leaves and leave
absolutely no gaps for the air to come in. That way you don’t oxidise your beans. You leave
the beans covered for 48 hours (equivalent to 2 days) . After those 48 hours pass, turn them
again, cover once again, and then turn them every 24 hours [until at least 6 days has passed].”

While the fermentation is happening, the pulp will be dripping off the cacao beans. For this
reason, the fermentation boxes have holes that the pulp can drip through. Tuta says that “you
lose about 33% of your wet cacao weight after fermenting – which is a lot.”

Banana leaves are used to cover fermentation boxes

2. Drying
Finally, after the lengthy fermentation process, your beans are ready to be dried. This is another
crucial step in the enhancement of cacao flavor.

Cacao is dried in wooden boxes, beds, pallets or patios. According to the ICCO, the drying stage
should bring humidity levels down from 60% to 7%. Just like with coffee, it’s important to
periodically turn the beans to ensure they dry evenly.
 Cacao beans dry under the sun after fermentation

“Cacao is challenging to dry,” Tuta says. “Sometimes, during our drying stages, we have a lot of
rain here in Bahia, but we have started to implement a system in which we are able to cover the
beans while drying [them].”

Equipment can help. “Here at our farms, we have made improvements to our drying facilities. We
incorporated solar heaters that are under translucent plastic and have windows so that airflow is
continuous,” he explains.

“These solar heaters contain several wooden drawers that contain a plastic mesh to protect from
extreme solar exposure. Again, it’s important to recall this may be different from other drying
facilities. This will help us control the drying process, so we can get little acidity, less
astringency, and be able to get more consistency with the humidity at the end of the drying
process.”
 T

The large wooden “drawers” that Tuta uses to dry cacao beans.

3. Aging
Finally, after the drying stage, cacao beans are now ready to be aged. This step can last from 30
days up to a year, although this could be done for around 75 days. The beans are stored in sacks
in a storage house.

However, be careful with humidity levels. “While we mature the cacao beans, they may gain
some humidity once again, but you don’t want to get the humidity level up to 8%. Otherwise,
mold may be introduced and you’ll have to dry the beans once again.”

4. Storing
Now, the cacao is finally ready to be stored until it’s time for the buyer to collect it. Tuta warns of
the importance of keeping oxygen out and ensuring humidity levels are consistent; he uses
airtight bags, for example.
 Tuta Aquino at his cacao farm in Bahia, Brazil

A producer’s work extends far beyond planting and growing cacao. Harvesting, fermenting,
drying, aging… All these steps demand time, attention, and skill. Do them poorly, and you will
find quality begins to fall. But do them well and you have a recipe for exceptional fine cacao.

Written by Julio Guevara.

PDG Cacao