How Chocolate is Made from Cocoa Beans

Chocolate manufacturing stages

Chocolate is created from cocoa beans, contained in a cocoa pod, growing on the trunk of a tree: the cocoa tree growing in different equatorial zones of America, Africa and Indonesia

From cocoa beans to your Castelanne tablet

1st stage: Harvesting the Caboose

This first step is very delicate, the producer must cut the peduncle that connects the cocoa pod to the cocoa tree, taking care not to damage the floral pad or the bark on which the flowers depend, and therefore the future harvest.

2nd step: Ecossamming

About 3 days after harvest, the producer opens the pods with a knife to separate by hand the cocoa beans from the white pulp (placenta or mucilage) of the pod.

3rd stage: Fermentation

24 hours after husking, this operation aims to stop the bean germination process and thus improve the conservation of the fruits. The beans are stored for one week in large wooden baskets, (containing on average 100kg of beans), each basket will be brewed every 24 hours.

4th stage: Drying

In order to stop the fermentation process, cocoa beans must absolutely dry for 1 to 4 weeks. They are thus placed on racks or large tarpaulins in full sun on a layer of 1 to 4 cm stirred regularly. In order to speed up this stage, manufacturers use thermal ovens which heat the beans for 1 to 2 days. Once the beans are dry, they are stored in large jute bags and then exported to the countries that will transform the beans into chocolate.

5th stage: Roasting

Once the beans are unloaded from the cargo, they are cleaned, then heated for half an hour (from 100 ° to 140 ° C depending on the type of cocoa) in order to develop the aroma of the chocolate these aromas depend essentially on the precursors born during fermentation.

6th stage: Shelling

Once roasted, the beans are coarsely ground to separate the hull pieces and germs by a ventilation/vibration system (the lighter hull pieces fly away while the heavier bean does not move). Composition of the Cocoa Bean: Cocoa beans contain about 50% fat called cocoa butter; 3.5% water; 7% starch; 4% cellulose; 2% theobromine, 20% other proteins and 6% mineral substances