Evolutions and Innovations in the Cocoa Supply chain

The first time someone visit a cocoa farm, you will be amazed by the architecture of a cocoa tree. After all, its flower cushions where flowers emerge and are pollinated into fruits, the fruit starts as a cherelle (small fruit) and if not wilted (natural phenomenon that enables the cocoa tree to regulate its pod production) matures to a large round to oval-shaped pods hanging out of cocoa tree trunk. Naturally, cocoa is a forest tree. The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao Linnaeus 1753) is a small tree that can be found growing wild in the Amazon basin and the tropical areas of South and Central America. There are more than twenty species within the genus Theobroma, but the cocoa tree is the only one cultivated widely. Although today we are interested in cocoa beans, ancient peoples are likely to have selected cocoa for its pulp. Inside the cocoa pod, its seeds (or call them beans) are surrounded by a white, sweet-tasting nutritious pulp. Thousands of years ago, a natural population of T. cacao was spread from the central part of the Amazon region to Guiana and Southern Mexico. During this journey, the cocoa tree diverged into two distinct subspecies: Criollo in Central America and Forastero in South America1 (Young 2007). Beans from Criollo are rounded and white in cross-section. Chocolate made from these beans is of very high quality: aromatic but lacking in bitterness. Unfortunately, Criollo trees are susceptible to a range of diseases, which has had a huge impact on its cultivation. So much so that Criollo cocoa has become scarce and currently represents less than 3% of the world’s cocoa production (Young 2007). By contrast, the Forastero accounts for about 85% of world’s cocoa production. Forastero varieties are hardy, vigorous, and more disease resistant than Criollo cocoa. They produce beans that are smaller and flatter, with violet-colored cotyledons, and although beans from these types possess a stronger flavor with higher fat content, the flavor is not generally considered to be of high quality (Zarrillo et al 2018).

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