Cocoa Survey in Indonesia
The cocoa bean is the main ingredient in chocolate and derives from the cacao tree, which is indigenous to the equatorial regions of the Americas, but is now grown in tropical areas worldwide.
Cocoa beans are the seeds, contained in a cucumber-like fruit, of the cacao tree, a member of the Sterculiaceae family. The flowers/fruit are borne directly on the trunk (cauliflory) and on thick branches (ramiflory). The yellowish, reddish to brownish fruits (botanically speaking, berries), which are of similar appearance to cucumbers, are divided into five longitudinal compartments, each containing up to 10 seeds (cocoa beans). As the fruits approach ripeness, the partitions break down and the seeds are located around the central funicle in a whitish pulp with a sweet/sour flavor.
Good qualities:
– fully ripe, correctly fermented
– firm beans of uniform size with a dry weight of no less than 1 g
– loose and undamaged shell
– light to dark reddish-brown color
– readily crumbled, highly fragile kernel
Bad qualities:
– unripe and poorly fermented
– moldy cocoa beans
– strong violet color as a result of underfermentation; purple color when overfermented
– slaty and firm kernel as a result of underfermentation
– insect infested cocoa beans
– flat, unripe, small and broken cocoa beans
– germinated cocoa beans
– ham-like odor due to overfermentation
– smoky odor due to excessively long drying
The product should be shipped shortly after harvest, as extended storage (> 6 months) may result in losses due to the high relative humidities in the tropics.
Packaging in bags of jute or sisal usually of a (gross) weight of 60 – 65 kg, rarely of up to 100 kg. New or high quality bags should be used due to the high value of the cargo.
Transport of bagged cargo in ventilated containers (coffee containers) is possible subject to compliance with lower limits for the water content of goods, packaging and flooring.
High demanding of cocoa beans from foreign country such as Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ecuador, Peru, and more imported to Indonesia, especially in Bandung, encourage us to provided Cocoa Survey such as Cocoa Damage Survey, Cocoa Unloading Survey, Cocoa Bean Condition Survey, contaoner check, cocoa strippinga and unstripping. More info, kindly contact us.
SAMUDRA – Marine Cargo Surveyors
Email : op@surveyorsamudra.com
Phone / WhatsApp : +62-818-3333-47
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