Our Process

Did you know that cacao is a fermented food?

  • Cocoa beans occur in the fruit pods of the tree, Theobroma cacao.
  • The beans are embedded in a viscous, sugary pulp and after harvesting the beans and pulp are removed from the pods.
  • Microbial fermentation of the beans and pulp occurs naturally, which degrades the pulp and facilitates subsequent drying of the beans.
  • The dried beans are then bagged and shipped to the US.
  • We inspect the cacao beans to remove inferior beans and debris.
  • Then roast the beans in a fluid bed roaster to develop flavor. This is also an important food safety step.
  • We crack and winnow the cooled beans to separate the nibs from the husk.
  • Then grind and conch in a melangeur – a bowl that crushes the nibs between granite stones to produce a warm liquid. The cacao nib is 50% cocoa butter that melts under shear by the stones. We add unrefined sugar (20-30% of total mass) and continue for at least two days. A key objective is to grind the cacao and sugar solids down to a particle size of under 20 microns for a smooth texture. The long grind time is also important for flavor development.
  • Now temper & mould chocolate into bars. Tempering is a precise temperature profile that produces the desirable beta-crystal form of cocoa butter. This leads to the characteristic chocolate bar shine, snap and pleasant mouth-melting.
  • Finally wrap and store the bars.
  • There is no dairy/gluten/nuts/soy in our facility.