There is news from our fine flavor cocoa plantation 'Tres Equis - Finca de Cacao' in Costa Rica: since mid-2020 we have been working on the construction of our new, solar-powered post-harvest station. Now it is ready and in operation!
The innovative facility guarantees optimal conditions for processing our fine flavor cocoa all year round. From the delivery of the fresh fine flavor cocoa seeds, through their fermentation and drying, to the packaging and storage of the export-ready raw cocoa in recycled sea freight containers, we can handle everything on site. A solar system is connected underground to the post-harvest station and supplies important equipment with energy. This makes the station completely self-sufficient and emission-free.
- Fermentation building
- Drying plant with solar-powered sliding roofs
- Raw cocoa storage container with solar heater on the roof
- Solar system and technical container
Important quality tests at the beginning and during the post-harvest processes are also carried out at the station. The final quality tests, such as the cutting or aroma test, are carried out by our cocoa expert upstairs at the institute.
Fermentation
In the fermentation building, we have installed a so-called cascade system in which the fermentation boxes are arranged in a staircase. This makes it easier to turn the 500 kg of cocoa per box. Depending on capacity utilization, we ferment up to 1 MT of fresh fine flavor cocoa in each cascade. This means that at peak harvest times, we can ferment 4-8 MT of fine flavor cocoa seeds every week! In the first step, the fine flavor cocoa seeds are filled into the top crate using a rope hoist. We opted for the rope hoist to minimize the physical effort of our employees. As fermentation progresses, the cocoa is moved to a deeper box every two days or so. We always adapt the fermentation method and duration to the fine flavor cocoa varieties and the temperature development. We know the proportion of each variety, as we pay attention to varietal purity during harvesting and collect the relevant data. We usually obtain the best raw cocoa quality when we ferment our fine flavor cocoa for 6 days.
Drying
By using stored solar energy, we can combine three different methods in our drying plant:
- Sun drying, which we use on sunny and slightly cloudy days: a natural drying process using direct sunlight and wind. This is made possible by sliding roofs that are opened automatically by a sensor system.
- We use greenhouse drying on wet, gray, very cloudy days with showers or drizzle: the fine flavor cocoa dries via air circulation in the greenhouse.
- Artificial drying is used in the event of persistent rain: Drying by fans that blow warm air from our self-built solar heater into the drying beds for several hours a day.
During the drying process, moisture and acid escape from the cocoa seeds, down to a maximum residual moisture content of 6%. This process takes around 7-8 days and is essential for the storage and transportability of our raw cocoa.
Raw cocoa production process
- Delivery of the fresh fine flavor cocoa seeds.
- Receipt with solar-powered rope hoist.
- Fermentation of the fine flavor cocoa seeds in wooden crates arranged in a cascade.
- Drying of the fermented fine flavor cocoa on 15 m long drying beds. A weather station continuously supplies data on humidity, indoor and outdoor temperature and radiation.
- The solar system supplies the necessary energy for the rope hoist, the motorized system of the sliding roofs, the fans (drying bed and solar heater), the rain sensor and for the light sources in the system.
- In the raw cocoa warehouse, the fermented and dried fine cocoa beans are stored in jute sacks until they are shipped. A self-built solar heater is installed on the roof and supplies the drying beds with warm air as required.
We are proud of the work we have already accomplished and also of the successful audit of the national tender 'Crecimiento Verde' ('Green Growth'). We applied there with part of our project idea and won a grant for our innovative drying system.
