IVORIAN UNREFINED CACAO SEEDS TO POWDER

WE AFFORD IVORIAN UNREFINED CACAO SEEDS TO POWDER

WE ARE LOOKING FOR BUYERS, DEALERS, WHOLESALERS, CONFECTIONARY FIRMS WHO REFINE OR SELL CACAO

DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST: thanks to our presence in Côte d’Ivoire through our Italian partners, locally resident in Côte d’Ivoire, and exporters engaged on a professional basis in the export and marketing of cacao, we are able to PROVIDE IVORIAN CACAO renowned for its excellent product and organoleptic properties. Given that Côte d’Ivoire is the main worldwide cacao producer, we can provide cacao in large amounts and regular production and supplying.

CONTACT US

Anyone who is interested in having more informtions about IVORIAN CACAO is invited to send us a request through the form CONTACT highlighting on the OBJECT of the request “IVORIAN CACAO” and specyfing its own references in order to be contacted.

FURTHER INFORMATIONS ABOUT CACAO

ORIGIN, CLASSIFICATION AND PROPERTIES OF CACAO: the species popularly known as cacao is technically expressed with binomial nomenclature Theobroma Cacao L.1753. It is obtained by a tree belonging to the Sterculiaceae gender Theobroma family, originating in South America (assigned to the Malvaceae according to the APG system). In nature it appears as a 5 – 10 metres high evergreen tree, with shiny oval leaves at the top; however not all the species of cacao have green leaves. On the trunk sprout white, green or rosy bunches of flowers and which then turn into cacao flowers or bolls / fruits.
From the ovary of the flower the yellow-green long cedar shaped fruit will grow, taking a reddish brown colour after the maturation. The skin has longitudinal scores and inside the fruit you can find from 25 to 40 purple-brown oval flat almond-shaped seeds.

The seeds are immersed in a sugary jelly-like substance which contains also fats, albuminoids, alkaloids and colourings. Among the alkaloids we can mention the caffeine ( in small amounts) that is a stimulant and the theobromine that has euphoriant power and diuretic properties, thanks to which it was used in the past before the coming of more effective drugs to stimulate the diuresis in the case of cardiac decompensation. Eating chocolate in large amounts can lead to a psychological addiction due to the presence of these substances. The weight of the boll / fruit, which can be from 10 to 15 cm high, goes from 300 up to 500 gr. However the fruit can weigh up to 1 kg.

TYPES OF CACAO:
- Criollo Cacao : also known as Theobroma Cacao Cacao, of great value, rich in flavourings and fragrances, widespread in Central America and South America (Ecuador, Venezuela). The seeds are white, scented and a little bit bitter. It requires many attentions and it has a scarce yield. It represent 10% of the cacao on the market and it has an high cost, so it is suitable for very high value and cost chocolate.

- Forastero Cacao : also called Theobroma Cacao Sphaerocarpum, or consumption cacao, that is the most popular product on the market. It comes from violet seeds having a strong and bitter flavour .This cacao provides 80% of the production of the chocolate on the market. It is grown mainly in West Africa, Brazil and South-East Asia.

- Trinitario Cacao : it is an admixture of the previous two kind of cacao, an hybrid grown in Amazon, Trinidad, Mexico, Caribbean, Columbia, South-East Asia and it represents only 10% of the worldwide production.

GROWING CACAO: even if the fructification lasts for more than 30 years, the cacao-tree requires quite significant upfront costs for formation expenses and it starts to produce cocoa from the fifth year. Given that the tree cannot be left in direct sunlight, it is often grown in the shade of palm and banana trees which can be distinguished by their greater height. 90% of the production comes from small African farmers, from small farms between 2 and 5 hectares, while only 5% comes from big growers with holdings of at least 40 hectares. Although fructification is continuous during the year, there are two periods of maximum harvest and each tree produce normally 1 or 2 kg of seeds.

MAIN CACAO PRODUCER COUNTRIES: Côte d’Ivoire is the main worldwide producer of cacao with a production of about 1 million and 330 thousand metric tonnes for year, followed by Ghana, with 739 thousand metric tonnes, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Columbia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, Togo, Argentina, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Salomon Islands with a production of 5000 metric tonnes per year. The worldwide chocolate production is having a drop of 5%. Consumers eat less chocolate but of higher quality and cost.

CURIOSITIES ABOUT CACAO:

- It has a very high antioxidant power, that is index 80933 which is 19 times higher than an apple’s oxidant power.

- It is an excellent energizer and stimulant. It seems to have also anti-depressing properties;

- The first growers and users of cacao in the history seem to have been the Maya. Europeans discovered cocoa after the discovery of America by Cristoforo Colombo who received as a gift cacao in Guanaja Island during its fourth journey. In 1606 there are documents which demonstrate the production of chocolate in Venice and Florence. In 1879 in Berna, Mr. Lindt Rodolphe starts the production of dark chocolate.

PROCESSING COCOA BEANS:

Each tree can provide about 1-2 kg of dry beans. The cacao first harvested is fermented, dried and then ground to obtain dry beans, with 50% of yield compared to the cacao first harvested. The stages of the processing of cacao are the following:

- HARVEST : the fruit is harvested, pressed and let rest for about 7 days, then the pulp and the beans contained in it are extracted. A medium-sized tree produce approximately from 20 to 50 mature fruits in a year.

- FERMENTATION : the pulp and the beans are subjected to fermentation for about 6 days in big wooden cases, at 45-50 celsius degrees. The pulp liquefy and it is later removed. The fermentation is a very important process and its correct execution avoid a too bitter taste ( insufficient fermentation) or a flavourless seed (excessive fermentation) because at this stage the oxidation of the polyphenol contained takes place, from which derives the flavour that the chocolate will be able to emanate.

- DRYING : It starts to stop the fermentation, to reduce the % of dump present and to stop the production of mould which would damage the product; however the parts of product damaged are processed to obtain cocoa butter, a by-product used in the cosmetics industry. The drying makes the beans breakable so that they can be open by pressure and ready for the following process. The beans are ready to be packed and send to the collection centres. The drying, as the previous stage of fermentation requires skill and knowledge of of the chemical processes below, because an improper drying especially if hurried or forced through artificial procedures makes a low-quality cocoa, suitable only for low-quality productions.

- ROASTING (or commonly and wrongly called torrefaction): the process lasts between just over an hour and 2 hours, it is made at different temperatures depending on the request for chocolate production ( 98-104 celsius degrees) or cocoa powder (116-121 celsius degrees). In case of dark chocolate production the temperature must be slightly increased. The roasting process is made in particular dryers where the seeds are assailed by a flow of warm air with adequate residual damp or through fluidised bed technology of progression. This means the sweetening and decortication of cocoa. The flavour that the chocolate will have after the processing on the confectionary industry is given by the Maillard and oxidation reactions of the phenolic compounds contained in it and also the evaporation of the acetic acid and the volatile esters. That’s why this stage is very delicate too. Eventually it is useful to highlight the very important sanitary function of the roasting, given that it allows the removal of microorganisms, pests and grubs who could be survived at previous heat treatments.

- DECORTICATION and DEGERMINATION: after this processes the seed-leaves can be sold as they are or be grounded.

- CRUSHING: the seed-leaves are crushed through hot cylinders, the fat is melted to obtain a viscous fluid mass called “liquor or cocoa mass”.The potassium carbonate K2CO3, is added only in industrial production to neutralise the tannins and to blend the fats contained. The cocoa mass can be at this stage used for chocolate production or can be subjected to the following process to separate the fats.

- SEPARATION OF THE FATS: consist in the separation of the cocoa butter still present not separated through mechanic pressure processes during the milling.

- GRINDING: Cocoa powder is produced using the sheets obtained by the previous processing. The powder obtained is called “soluble cocoa” . However, this is an improper name, given that thanks to its physicochemical properties cocoa remain in suspension in aqueous solution.

- SOLUBILIZATION: The remaining fats are removed through water vapour, sodium carbonate Na2CO3 and potassium carbonate K2CO3. The starch turns into dextrin (dutch method).

CÔTE D’IVOIRE AND COCOA GROWING, CHOCOLATE PRODUCTION, WORLDWIDE PRODUCERS, WORLD CONSUMPTION

COCOA BEANS PRODUCTION: 45% of cocoa beans worldwide production is related to Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria.

WHO PROCESS RAW CACAO: there are few large industrial groups who process cacao coming from the South intended for the North. Among these we can mention: Cargill and Archer Daniels Midlands (USA), Nestlé and Barry Callebaut (Switzerland), who process 85% of worldwide cocoa beans.

CHOCOLATE MARKET: a market for 100 billion of $, 10 businesses who splits 43% of worldwide chocolate production. Among these Lindt is specialized vertically in chocolate production, while other businesses as Nestlé, Mars, Hershey, Cadbury are specialised in the production of different kinds of cocoa products.

CLIMATE RISK AND CHOCOLATE PRODUCTION: According to the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change over the last 40 years a decrease of lands suitable for cocoa growing. Because of the global warming which implicated an increase in temperatures and will lead to an increase of 2 degrees centigrade in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the coming years, there is a risk of an extremely hot and dry climate which could block the growing of cacao, raw material for the chocolate production and the main means of sustenance of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana economies.

SOCIAL INVOLVEMENTS: Given that growing cocoa is the more profitable business of the country, there are questionable consequences from the social point of view, about the employment of child labour force. However, the most profit-making multinational are apparently engaged in decreasing the employment of Childs in the growing and processing of cocoa, the raw material. In Côte d’Ivoire the kids engaged in the harvest had an increase of 51% in 2013-2014 compared to 2008-2009 data. Instead,according to ONU, in Ghana child labour had a decrease of 7% with 960 thousand fewer units compared to the jobs. The biggest international players signed an agreement for the decrease of 70% within 2020 of the minors engaged in cocoa harvest.

CHOCOLATE CONSUMPTION: Europe chocolate consumption per year is about 1 million 800 thousand tonnes, while it is about 1 million 300 thousands tonnes in North America and in the South, 130 thousand tonnes in Africa, and about 600 thousands tonnes in Asia and Oceania. The main worldwide chocolate consumers are swiss, Irish and British persons in that order.

DATA ABOUT CÔTE D’IVOIRE:

Extended name: Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, official name “République de Côte d’Ivoire”.

Data about State organization : Semi-presidential republic, indipendent from France since 1960, member state of UN SINCE 1960. Territorial organization: 14 districts, 31 regions, 105 departments, 510 sub-prefectures, over 1000 commons and 8000 villages.

Language: official language French and Yamoussoukro.

Geographic and population data : sub-Saharan African country.

Surface: 322 460 km2, population about 20 million people, population density 61 people for square meter. Name of the inhabitants “Ivorians”. It borders with Liberia, Mali, Guinea, Ghana, Burkina Faso.

Climate: hot and humid in the south, tropical in the central area, dry in the north.

Economic data: nominal GDP about 31 billions of $, nominal GDP per person about 1550 $.

Environmental resources and Economy: Côte d’Ivoire is one of the richest country in raw materials of Africa.

Many economic resources comes from agriculture and cocoa, coffee, palm oil, sugar cane, walnut, banana, ananas, cotton, rubber, potato, millet, cassava, rice, corn farmings;

Many economic activities come from metals and minerals such as manganese, diamonds, bauxite, nickel, gold.

Other activites are based on the employment of oilfields.

LINKS:

- wikipedia: Cocoa
- wikipedia: Ivory Coast
- wikipedia: Chocolate