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Harvesting The harvesting of cocoa pods is very labour-intensive. In West Africa the whole family, together with friends and neighbours will help out. in gatherthing the cocoa pods Ripe pods are gathered every few weeks during the peak season. The high pods are cut with large knives attached to poles, taking care not to damage nearby flowers or buds. The pods are collected in large baskets, which workers carry on their heads, and piled up ready for splitting. The pods are split open by hand and the seeds or beans, which are covered with a sweet white pulp or mucilage, are removed ready to undergo the two-part curing process - fermentation and drying. This prepares the beans for market and is the first stage in the development of the delicious chocolate flavour
Once Cadbury have bought their cocoa beans, they arrive in New Zealand and are transported to one of the world’s most modern processing factories, at Chirk in North Wales. The sacks of beans are emptied out on to a conveyor belt and before anything else happens they’re cleaned to get rid of any dust and stones they’ve picked up along the way. Next the beans roasted in a big revolving drum called a continuous roaster. Hot air goes into it as the beans pass along it, and it’s during this process that you’ll really begin to smell chocolate! The roasted beans are ‘kibbled’ (broken in to small pieces), then ‘winnowed’ – the brittle shells are blown away, leaving just the ‘nibs’, the centres of the beans. The nibs are ground between steel rollers until they become a chocolate-coloured liquid, rather like thick cream, over half of which is cocoa butter. The liquid is called ‘mass’ or ‘cocoa liquor’ and this is the basic ingredient for all cocoa and chocolate products. Mass contains ‘cocoa butter’ and about half of is pressed out. You’re left with a solid block that can then be ground into cocoa powder.
Drying and bagging When fermentation is complete, the wet mass of beans is dried, either traditionally by being spread in the sun on mats or using special drying equipment. The cured beans are packed into sacks for transportation to Singapore, where Cadbury processes the beans. After quality inspection they are shipped to the Cadbury processing factory in Chirk, which produces the basic ingredients from which Cadbury chocolate products are made. On arrival at the factory, the cocoa beans are sorted and cleaned.
Fermentation During fermentation the cocoa pulp clinging to the beans matures and turns into a liquid, which drains away and the true chocolate flavour starts to develop. Fermentation methods vary considerably from country to country, but there are two basic methods - using heaps and boxes. The heap method, traditionally used on farms in West Africa, involves piling wet cocoa beans, surrounded by the pulp, on banana or plantation leaves spread out in a circle on the ground. The heap is covered with more leaves and left for 5-6 days, regularly turned to ensure even fermentation. In large plantations in the West Indies, Latin America and Malaysia, strong wooden boxes with drainage holes or gaps in the slats in the base are used, allowing air and liquid to pass through. This process takes 6-8 days during which time the beans are mixed twice. In Nigeria, cocoa is fermented in baskets lined and covered with leaves
The cocoa mass is sent to the Cadbury milk factory near Hereford. Here it is mixed with sugar and fresh full cream milk, which has already been condensed into a thick liquid. The mixture is dried in vacuum ovens to become milk chocolate ‘crumb’. The milk chocolate crumb is taken to Cadbury chocolate factories and finely ground between enormous rollers before extra cocoa butter and special flavourings are added. The amount of cocoa butter added depends on what the chocolate is for – bar chocolate needs to be thick, but if it’s to cover assortments and bars with different centres, thinner chocolate is used. In the UK up to 5% vegetable fat is added too – this stabilises the chocolate and gives the ideal texture to ensure that the melting properties of the chocolate are precise and preserve the taste and ideal texture of the chocolate. Next, milk chocolate needs to be conched (rolled and kneaded so that it becomes silky smooth), and tempered (cooled to a particular temperature to make it more stable) – just like for dark chocolate. Now the chocolate’s ready for its final destination – maybe it’ll be poured over a Crunchie, become a Cadbury Creme Egg, or end up as a lovely bar of Dairy Milk
After this the cadbury is wrapped and sent to your local store to be purchased
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