The Bean side of the Bar

The Wellington Chocolate Voyage is now live! Go to our Kickstarter page to become a backer, follow us on Facebook, and help spread the word!

By Rochelle and Gabe

At the Wellington Chocolate Factory you can watch cocoa beans being turned into chocolate. We’d like to show you what happens before the beans get to us.  Here are some great photos of Bougainville cocoa farming – the ‘bean’ side of bean-to-bar chocolate making- with some of the friends we’re working to support.

These were taken by Gabe on his 2014 Bougainville trip. He met some great people including the local cocoa legend James Rutana who you all now know. Some others you’re about to meet, such as Robert Critchley and his team.

Robert is a local entrepreneur who started Sankamap Exports “to put Bougainville back on the map” via cocoa. Robert had worked in the Papua New Guinea cocoa trading industry but became frustrated that Bougainville cocoa received no recognition when it was exported to international markets. Sankamap is a nickname for Bougainville and means sunrise in Pidgin English.

Click on the photos below for a full size slideshow.

nursery

cacao tree

harvesting

inside a cocoa pod

shelled ready for fermentation

fermentation – the beans are under the leaves

A combination dryer – solar and fire for when the weather goes bad

The kiln pipe for a dryer – needing repair

drying the beans

Putting Bougainville back on the map!!

Inside a dried cocoa bean

Robert’s winnoer machine – it makes sure only the best beans get exported

Making a mini sack, with the biggest knife for WCF’s cocoa sample

Hand sorting the already winnowed beans – quality!

Robert (far left) and his crew

The end result – Sankamap beans to be made into chocolate by WCF

The Wellington Chocolate Voyage is now live! Go to our Kickstarter page to become a backer, follow us on Facebook, and help spread the word!