From Farm to Snack

Cacao starts in this tiny flower the size of your thumbnail. Each flower, when fertilized by resident midges, has the potential to turn into a colorful cacao pod.

Notice how they grow directly on a main trunk or large branches. Keep reading to find out why!

Cacao trees can grow beyond 25 feet high, but farmers often prune them shorter so the pods are easier to harvest. Proper pruning also prevents mold, fungus or other pests from taking hold in the warm, tropical, rainy environment.

Do you see the tiny flowers on the branches? Cacao has two harvests per year. One is starting while the other is ending! 

Cacao pods typically have a 2-4 week window to harvest for peak ripeness. Our partners coordinate their harvest between farms so the cacao can be combined for better fermentation.

The harvested pods may be gathered over many hours or sometimes days. Just before the co-op collects the cacao seeds, also known as wet beans, the farmers will open the pods all at once and empty the seeds into buckets or bags for easier transport. 

Many "roads" in rural cacao farming areas are impossible to reach by car or truck. Therefore, fresh cacao beans are brought to a meeting point where they are weighed on a portable scale. Farmers are paid by weight and quality. 

During collection, we set-aside cacao for Good King. Larger cacao beans command a premium from chocolate makers because they’re easier to machine-process. We prefer [and pay an equal premium for] smaller cacao beans because they make a better snack! Win-win.

When the pickup truck is full, it hands off to a small lorry waiting on a paved road wide enough to carry the cacao to the fermentation facility!

The pickup truck makes as many as 4-5 trips between the farms and the lorry until all of the cacao is collected from the farms. 

Fermentation is a key difference between mass market and fine flavor cacao – and one of the reasons our cacao beans can tantalize your taste buds with a variety of flavor notes ranging from ripe banana to tart cherry to sweet almond.

Fermentation methods vary – the most common being wooden boxes or large heaps piled on banana leaves. Regardless of where, the important part is that the fermentation pile is big enough for heat to rise (up to 120°F!) and begin to transform the flavors of the cacao beans. 

In our experience, this step is nearly as important as fermentation. Cacao quality is best when sun dried. In a tropical climate where it rains often, this is far more difficult than it sounds!  Like the story of Goldilocks - dry too fast and cacao can taste harsh and astringent. Dry too slow and it will mold. Dry it just right and it will make your mouth sing.

After drying, while it is still fresh, the women of the community delicately shell the dried seeds by hand. Keeping this step local improves quality and provides our partners with up to 80% additional income over exporting the same beans without value-added steps.