by
CocoaTown LLC
For years, farmers have sold cocoa as a commodity, with the price they earn for their crops set by distant powers
Cocoa farmers had no control over their profits and no means to substantially grow their income. But in 2007, a few chocolate makers in America changed this forever. They saw the potential of cocoa as a superfood – a quality barely recognisable in chocolate bars, full of sugar and with a negligible quantity of cocoa mass.
These chocolate makers transformed the image of a chocolate bar into something austere but delicious – just cocoa beans and sugar (35% or less of the total weight compared to 80% in mass produced chocolate), with no additives or chemicals.
They had the knowledge to make chocolate but had to “MacGyver” existing equipment to suit their needs (a reference to the 1980s TV show). More chocolate makers wanted to follow in their footsteps, but were not able to make the necessary modifications to off the shelf equipment.
CocoaTown was founded in 2008 to provide chocolate makers with the resources and equipment needed for the different steps of chocolate production. Innovation and continuous research have helped CocoaTown to provide a complete, off-the-shelf solution to chocolate makers, with the equipment and education to go all the way from cocoa bean to chocolate bar (“bean-to-bar”, as it is commonly called).
CocoaTown now has three different equipment lines – one for exploring and experimenting with new flavours or techniques, one for exhibiting and showcasing the chocolate making process, and one for expanding and growing their business to commercial capacity. The complete Explorer line costs only US$4,000 (F.O.B. Atlanta) and includes a Roaster, Cooling Tray, Cracker, Winnower, mini Pregrinder, and Melanger with all the accessories, so now farmers and small business owners in more than 100 countries can affordably make their own chocolate.
There is a saying that coffee farmers in many parts of the world have never tasted their own coffee farmers in many parts of the world have never tasted their own coffee because of the cost involved in processing the beans into coffee for drinking. Similarly, in the past cocoa farmers could not afford to buy chocolate because the final, finished product was much more expensive than the cocoa beans they produced – chocolate manufacturers were able to capture all the additional value from processing. CocoaTown has shifted the paradigm by enabling cocoa farmers to make their own chocolate and capture some of this value. Even if farmers do not want to vertically integrate and move up the supply chain, having access to chocolate making machinery helps them understand why the proper fermentation and drying techniques are important to increase the quality, and therefore the selling price of their beans. The commodity price for most cocoa beans is around US$1 per kilogram, whereas chocolate makers would pay up to US$3 per kg for quality cocoa beans.
Read the full article, HERE.
For years, farmers have sold cocoa as a commodity, with the price they earn for their crops set by distant powers
Cocoa farmers had no control over their profits and no means to substantially grow their income. But in 2007, a few chocolate makers in America changed this forever. They saw the potential of cocoa as a superfood – a quality barely recognisable in chocolate bars, full of sugar and with a negligible quantity of cocoa mass.
These chocolate makers transformed the image of a chocolate bar into something austere but delicious – just cocoa beans and sugar (35% or less of the total weight compared to 80% in mass produced chocolate), with no additives or chemicals.
They had the knowledge to make chocolate but had to “MacGyver” existing equipment to suit their needs (a reference to the 1980s TV show). More chocolate makers wanted to follow in their footsteps, but were not able to make the necessary modifications to off the shelf equipment.
CocoaTown was founded in 2008 to provide chocolate makers with the resources and equipment needed for the different steps of chocolate production. Innovation and continuous research have helped CocoaTown to provide a complete, off-the-shelf solution to chocolate makers, with the equipment and education to go all the way from cocoa bean to chocolate bar (“bean-to-bar”, as it is commonly called).
CocoaTown now has three different equipment lines – one for exploring and experimenting with new flavours or techniques, one for exhibiting and showcasing the chocolate making process, and one for expanding and growing their business to commercial capacity. The complete Explorer line costs only US$4,000 (F.O.B. Atlanta) and includes a Roaster, Cooling Tray, Cracker, Winnower, mini Pregrinder, and Melanger with all the accessories, so now farmers and small business owners in more than 100 countries can affordably make their own chocolate.
There is a saying that coffee farmers in many parts of the world have never tasted their own coffee farmers in many parts of the world have never tasted their own coffee because of the cost involved in processing the beans into coffee for drinking. Similarly, in the past cocoa farmers could not afford to buy chocolate because the final, finished product was much more expensive than the cocoa beans they produced – chocolate manufacturers were able to capture all the additional value from processing. CocoaTown has shifted the paradigm by enabling cocoa farmers to make their own chocolate and capture some of this value. Even if farmers do not want to vertically integrate and move up the supply chain, having access to chocolate making machinery helps them understand why the proper fermentation and drying techniques are important to increase the quality, and therefore the selling price of their beans. The commodity price for most cocoa beans is around US$1 per kilogram, whereas chocolate makers would pay up to US$3 per kg for quality cocoa beans.
Read the full article, HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com
No comments:
Post a Comment