Trinitario plants are not found in the wild, as they are cultivated hybrids of the two other types. Trinitario cocoa trees are grown mainly the Caribbean area but also in Cameroon and Papua New Guinea. The mostly hard pods are variable in colour and they contain 30 or more beans of variable colour but white beans are rare.
Cocoa trees can reach up to 7.5 metres (25 feet) high and they are carefully pruned so that the pods can be more easily harvested. To flourish they need to be shaded from direct sun and wind particularly in the early stages of growth. Two methods are used to establish cocoa trees.
Young trees are interspersed with new permanent or temporary shade trees such as coconut, plantains and bananas, following the clear-felling of the forest. In Asia where large plantations have been developed, cocoa trees and Coconut trees are planted together and both crops are harvested together commercially. Alternatively forest trees are thinned out and the cocoa trees are planted between established trees.
Cocoa trees begin to bear fruit when they are 3-4 years old. The pink and white flowers, then the pods grow strait out of the trunk and main branches which is most unusual. Like most tropical plants, flowers are present throughout the year but appear in abundance before the rain starts. Only a small proportion of all the flowers develop into fruit over a period of about five months.
Each tree will yield 20-30 pods per year and the peak time for harvesting is between September and December. The pods are hard and melon shaped, between 15-20cm long and each weighing about 450g. When the pods are ripe they change from green to yellow red or orange. Each pod contains 20-40 seeds which when dried are the cocoa beans of commerce. The harvesting of the pods is very labour intensive and on the West African smallholdings the whole family, together with friends and neighbours help out. Ripe pods are gathered every two or three weeks during the peak season.
Workers cut the high pods from the trees with large knives attached to poles, taking care not to damage nearby flowers or buds. The women of the family collect the pods in large baskets which they carry on their heads to be piled up ready for splitting.
The pods are split open by hand and the seeds or beans, which are covered with a sweet white pulp or mucilage, are removed ready to undergo the two part curing process- fermation followed by drying. This prepares the beans for market and is the first stage in the development of the delicious chocolate flavour. Methods of fermentation vary considerably from country to country but basically there are two main methods-HEAP and BOX.
Traditionally the Heap method is used on the farms in West Africa. Wet cocoa beans, surrounded by the pulp, are piled on banana or plantain leaves which are spread out in a circle on the ground. More leaves are put on top to cover the heap and it is left for 5-6 days, turning to ensure even fermentation. Cocoa is also fermented in baskets lined and covered with leaves- a method used in Nigeria.
During fermentation the pulp and astringency of the beans are removed as the sugar in the pulp turns to alcohol and vinegar-like liquids, which drain away and the true chocolate flavour starts to develop. When fermentation is complete the wet mass of beans is dried, traditionally by being spread in the sun on mats. The cured beans are packed into sacks for transportation all over the world. Stringent quality control procedures are carried out as samples are checked to ensure that standards are maintained before cocoa beans are bought from the farmer and again during transportation.
Cadbury’s cocoa factory at Chirk operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week producing the basic ingredients from which all Cadbury chocolate products are made. 50,000 tons of cocoa beans are processed each year using the latest technological control systems to ensure that the end product is of the highest quality.
On arrival at the factory, the cocoa beans are sorted and cleaned. They are then roasted in revolving drums at a temperature of 135 degrees centigrade and the actual roasting time depends on whether the end use is for cocoa or chocolate. During roasting the shells become brittle, the cocoa beans darken in colour and acquire their characteristic chocolate flavour which started to develop back on the farm.
Kibbling and Winnowing are the next processes as roasted beans are broken down into small pieces (kibbling) and the brittle shells are blown away by air currents (winnowing). The resulting pieces are known as ‘nibs’. Cocoa nibs are ground in steel pin mills until the friction and heat of the milling reduces them to a thick chocolate coloured liquid, known as ‘mass’, which contains 55-58% cocoa butter and solidifies on cooling. This is the basis of all chocolate and cocoa products.
Extracting about half the cocoa butter in heavy presses makes cocoa powder. The amount of cocoa butter removed is specified in the United Kingdom food laws and the figure varies in different countries. The solid blocks of compressed cocoa remaining after extraction is pulverised into a fine powder to produce a high quality cocoa powder for use as a beverage or in cooking. The extracted cocoa butter is used in recipes for a wide range of chocolate products.
