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AUI visit to Incasuca Cocoa Plantation
Rio Chico, Venezuela
Incasuca is a
company owned 97 % by SIPEF S.A., SIPEF is a large group who owns many
companies and plantation in different parts of the world. They manly
produce Kautschuk, Palm oil, coffee, tee and cacao.
Incasuca, Rio Chico location exports about 1000 metric tons of cocoa
(fermented – dried cocoa beans).
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Venezuela
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First
cacao was used by indigenous inhabitants who used it for medicine,
cosmetics, currency etc. In 1600 first exports were made to Spain.
Venezuela was the world most important cocoa producer and exporter in
the 17th century. Production decreased a lot during the independence
war and does play a minor roll in today’s world cocoa bean
production. It is still known for it’s superior quality but
nowadays the yearly production is only 15000 tons. Venezuela’s
high quality reputation comes from the Criollo beans. The Ocumare,
Choroni and Chuao (Criollo types) signify some of the finest grades
in the world. The main Cocoa areas are Barlovento (Incasuca company),
Oriente and at the foot of the Andes.
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Plantation Visit
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The
farm we visited has 15 hectares, which is about 40 acres of Cacao
Plantation. The Ranchero of the farm guided us through the
plantation-jungle. It was warm and very humid and trail we followed
through the cocoa campesino must be opened with a machete. As they
had a long dry season, there wasn’t that much cacao but the
rain season started a few days ago and some cocoa pods could be
harvested. There are three different kind of cocoa beans at this
farm:
• Criollo (large size red pods), very delicate and with an
exquisite aroma. It represents about 10% of the world crop and it
comes mainly from Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia
• Trinitario (small yellow pods), this variety is a cross
between the criollo and the forestero. Mainly of Trinidad and
Jamaica.
• Forastero (red yellowish color pod), a rather bitter, harsh
type of cocoa. It represents the majority of the world production and
comes mainly from Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria
On the plantation we had the opportunity to see all 3 varieties since
the cocoa trees were mixed into the jungle by natural semination. We
also had also the opportunity to taste a freshly cut cocoa pod which
tasted sweet, musky with a light acid flavor.
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Planting
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The
process starts with planting the cocoa bean seeds in a makeshift
nursery. Once the young cocoa tree reaches about 1 to 1.5 feet the
campesino transplant them into the plantation.
The end quality depends a lot of the genetics of the seeds. For the
first three years, the plants need a lot of shade. Therefore the
farmer plants bananas and other trees (coconut, ceiba trees etc.) in
the same field. After some years the banana plants are cut and the
real trees are only left together with the cacao trees. The tree
blossoms throughout the year, with an estimated 10’000 to
15’000 small flowers of which 20 to 40 grow into a fruit.
The pods grow directly on the trunk on the thicker branches of the
tree. Inside there are 20 to 40 seeds of the cocoa beans and a tree
produces between 0.5 and 2 kg (1 to 4.4 lbs) of beans per year. First
cacao can already be harvest after 2 to 3 years. The farmer can get
the fullest harvest approx. after 5 years until 30 years. The Cacao
trees can get approx. 100 years old.
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Harvest
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The
pods (Cacao fruit) need approx. 5 to 6 months to fully develop. There
can be an all year round harvest but the main crops are from November
to April (months after the rain season). There is a mid crop season
from May to July.
The pods are removed from the trees with a special tool (long wooden
stick with a very sharper blade at the end). The women cut the pods,
open them and take the beans out with their hands then they will fill
the baskets and carry them on top of their heads. They discard the
empty pods right in the plantation soil as a natural fertilizer.
After harvesting, the farmers bring the beans to the processing plant
(fresh beans) or ferment and dry them themselves on the farm.
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Fermentation
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Incasuca
makes a quality control of the beans that are brought by the farmers.
See last page for quality control. The beans are put in wooden cases
and covered by banana leaves for the first day. The beans need
natural bacteria to ferment and banana leaves will protect the bean
from other bacteria, which would have bad influence on the
fermentation process.
The fermentation process takes normally 6 to 7 days. Criollo beans
need only approx. 3 days. At Incasuca the beans are turned around 3
times during fermentation because the fermenting process results in a
lot of heat and it is not equally spread out. To check the
fermentation status, some beans are cut open to see the color of the
beans that indicates if the fermentation was long enough.
(brown=fully fermented, purple=not enough fermented). The beans have
still a humidity of 16 to 17 % left after the fermentation.
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Pre-Drying
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The
beans undergo a pre-drying process for approximately 8 hours at about
60° C (140° F). They are filled in a round mixing drum and turned
slowly this prevents them of sticking together. After the pre-drying
the beans have humidity content of 12 to 13 % left. The ammoniac that
was set free during the fermentation process, starts to evaporate.
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Drying
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The
beans are dried in a roller drying process with air for 4 to 5 hours
to bring the water content down to 8 % (export standard). A lot of
manufacturers sell beans to a higher humidity content approx. 9 %. In
this case the beans are more likely to mold and the customer
doesn’t want to buy water!
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Conventional Drying by Farmers
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The
farmers bring the beans to the processing plant (fresh beans) or
ferment and dry them themselves on the farm. It depends on the
weather, if it is rainy season, they bring it to a company because
the beans are dried on the road.
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Sorting and Bagging
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The
beans are sorted for single and double beans. Incasuca only exports
the single beans because the double beans (2 beans sticked together)
are hard to roast. The double beans go on the local market. The beans
are packed in bags of 60 kg (world standard) and then sold. The cacao
prices are traded worldwide and the leading cocoa exchange market
indications are the terminal market of London and New York. The
Venezuelan price is usually slightly higher than the New York
exchange price. Ivory Coast beans are normally sold under the New
York market price. 50 % of the Venezuelan cocoa beans are bought by
Japan.
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Quality Control
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Incasuca controls a 30 % of
the beans by “Guillotine system”. They place the beans in
a mold (50 beans at once) close it and cut it in the middle with the
Guillotine. Incasuca controls the color. The following problems can
be discovered:
• Purple = not fully fermented
• Black= slaty beans
• Moldy beans
• Beans affected by insects
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Other characteristics of beans can be tested, the weight and the
humidity. The world average weight of the beans is: 93 beans = 100 g.
Incasuca beans have an average of 90 beans per 100 g. If the bean count
is high (shouldn’t be more than 110 beans for 100 g) means less
fat or smaller nip and more shell. Therefore a smaller bean count is
better. The average percentage of the shell is 11 to 12 %. A minimum of
11 % shell should be reached to protect the delicate nips well from
insects and weather. The average cocoa fat content is 56 to 58 % per
dry nib. The criollo bean fat content is less, approx. 53 %. The
Forastero beans have a 55 to 59 % fat content.
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