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Cocoa
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The Dominican Republic’s participation in the global cocoa market dates back to a very long time. In fact, transactions with Spain and Mexico have been documented many centuries ago. However, it was in 1864 that cocoa began to be considered as a major component of dominican exports.
Climate in the Dominican Republic has always been favorable to us and to date, we have not been plagued by any serious threats such as the feared “witches’ broom disease” (Crinipellis perniciosa) which has severely damaged many other countries’ crops. |
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Cocoa
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CONACADO cocoa producers farm around 27,978 hectares of land (447,647tareas). There are small producers because most of them have less than 5 hectares of land (source: Éthiquable).
Sánchez cocoa. The traditional method to produce Sánchez quality cocoa consists of simply drying the cocoa beans after the harvest. This cocoa is used in North American countries to produce cocoa butter.
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Cocoa
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During the cocoa harvest year (October 1 to September 30, in our country), there are two main harvest seasons. In the winter (between October and February), we cultivate 20 percent of our cocoa and in the summer (between March and July) the remaining 80 percent.
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Cocoa
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The fermentation process. Fermentation eliminates any remaining pulp that may be stuck to the bean and kills germs inside it, but most significantly, it initiates the development of the aroma, savor and nib color to obtain a finely aromatized cocoa, suitable for the finest chocolate makers.
At CONACADO, we place the fresh cocoa beans in wooden crates on three levels. Thanks to gravity, the cocoa falls from the top crate to the next when it is stirred.
The pulp offers fertile ground for micro-organisms who play an important role during fermentation. In the first stage, the fermentation process consists of yeasts creating alcohol. Afterwards, the pulp starts to decompose and its juice seeps out.
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Cocoa
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Our slogan “Producing excellent cocoa for the most demanding markets” expresses CONACADO’s main goal. |
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