These Equal Exchange organic fairly-traded gourmet chocolate bars
are a rich and delicious treat that supports small-scale farmers and their
families. The bars combine famous Swiss standards in chocolate making with cocoa
from the farmer cooperatives CONACADO, in the Dominican Republic, and CACVRA, in
Peru; fairly traded organic sugar from cooperatives in Paraguay and Costa Rica.
How is Equal Exchange Organic Fair Trade Dark Chocolate
Made?
The
Cacao Tree
Cacao (a.k.a. cocoa beans) comes from
the cacao tree or Theobroma cacao.
The cacao tree is an evergreen found in over 50 tropical
countries, and estimated to be grown by 2 million to 2.5
million producers, 90% of whom are small-scale farmers
with 12 acres or less.
The tree can grow up to 30 feet but is often pruned to
make harvesting easier for the farmers. Once a tree is
planted, it can take up to five years before it produces
cacao pods, and it can continue to produce pods year
round until it is 25 or 30 years old.
The Cacao Pod
Every year, cacao trees grow thousands of flowers on
their trunks and branches. Only a small percentage (as
low as 1%) of these flowers will actually produce a
cacao pod.
This pod, which is the fruit from the tree, can be
similar to the size and shape of a football and grows
out of the trunk and branches of the tree. Pods can be
found in a range of colors from dark brown to orange,
red, yellow, and green.
A cacao pod will begin to ripen 5-6 months after it
flowers.
The Cacao Bean
Each pod contains beans, the seeds of the fruit that are
shaped like a flat almond, surrounded by a sweet pulp.
There are roughly 30-50 beans in a typical pod.
These beans are what ultimately get transformed into
cocoa powder or chocolate.
Harvesting
Once
the pods are ripe, they are cut down from the trees, typically with
machetes or, for the higher pods, using long poles with a cutting edge.
They are cut with care so that the stalks are not damaged and can
produce fruit the following year.
Once on the ground, the pods are graded for quality and placed into
piles. The pods are then opened with a machete or a wooden club by
cracking the pod so that it can be split in half. The beans, still
surrounded by the sweet pulp, are removed and piled on top of large
leaves, often from banana trees.
Though pods can be harvested year round there are two major harvest
times: the main harvest and the mid-harvest, which falls about six
months after the main harvest.
Fermentation
Once the cacao beans have been removed from the pods, they are fermented
to remove the mucilage, stop the bean from germinating, and to begin
flavor development.
Many farmers traditionally ferment the beans in a large pile on the
ground in between banana leaves or sacks. Some producer groups, such as
our producer partners in the Dominican Republic – the farmers of
CONACADO Co-op – bring the beans to a central fermentation area where
they are fermented in wooden boxes for a period up to six days.
Fermentation is essential to the development of a high quality cacao
bean that will be transformed into gourmet chocolate.
Drying
After
fermentation, the beans are dried, bringing the humidity of the beans
down to between 6% and 8% for storage and export. Cacao beans are often
dried in the sun, which can happen on tarps, mats, or patios. They are
continually raked so that they will dry more evenly.
The drying process can take up to a week; however, if the beans are
dried too long they will become brittle. If they are not dried long
enough they run the risk of becoming moldy.
Some producers also have access to automatic driers, which are used when
the weather is rainy or cloudy and they are unable to sun dry the beans.
Once dried, cacao beans can be stored for 4-5 years.
Processing
Roasting & Winnowing
When the dried cacao beans arrive at the processing plant they are first
cleaned to remove any debris. Next, the beans are roasted to darken the
color and to further bring out the flavor characteristics of the cacao.
The beans can be roasted at different temperatures and for different
lengths of time, depending on different variables such as humidity, size
of the beans, and the desired flavor.
After roasting, the beans are "winnowed" to remove the shells from
around the bean, leaving only the roasted cocoa nib, which is the key
ingredient for making chocolate.
Grinding & Pressing
After roasting and winnowing, the cocoa nibs are ground into a paste
called chocolate liquor (a.k.a cocoa mass). Despite the name, chocolate
liquor has absolutely no alcoholic content.
Chocolate liquor can either be used directly in the production of
chocolate bars or further processed to separate the fat, known as cocoa
butter, from the cocoa solid, leaving cocoa presscake. Cocoa butter is
used in chocolate bars and beauty products. Cocoa presscake is milled
into cocoa powder to be used for baking cocoa and hot cocoa.
Chocolate Bar
Manufacturing
Conching & Tempering
Once
the beans are processed into chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, the
manufacturing of finished products can begin. To make chocolate bars,
chocolate liquor and cocoa butter are blended with other ingredients
such as sugar, vanilla, and milk (for milk chocolate). These ingredients
are then refined. For Equal Exchange chocolate bars, this means the
particle size of the ingredients is refined to such a small size that
they cannot be felt by the human tongue, giving the chocolate much of
its smooth texture. This mixture is then "conched," or mixed and aerated
at high temperatures. This process thoroughly blends the ingredients,
taking out some of the acidity of the cacao and further developing the
flavors that will appear in the final bar.
Traditionally, conching has been an extended process of mixing the
ingredients for long periods of time, often for days. It is now common
for companies to use soy lecithin, an emulsifier, to help blend the
ingredients, allowing them to drastically cut down on conching time and
costs. We are proud to say that Equal Exchange does not use soy lecithin
in any of our products. Instead, our bars are crafted using extended
conching for a period of 24-72 hours depending on the bar. It is our
belief that this method creates a superior chocolate that is both
incredibly smooth and full of well balanced flavors.
After the conching is complete, the chocolate is then "tempered" through
a slow, stepped decrease in temperature. During this process, the
chocolate is cooled and then warmed, then cooled further and warmed once
again, and so on until it reaches the correct temperature, creating an
even crystallization of the ingredients throughout the chocolate. If
done well, tempering is what gives the chocolate its smooth texture and
snap when broken in two.
Molding
After the chocolate is properly tempered, it is ready for
additional ingredient inclusions such as almonds, coffee beans,
or cocoa nibs.
The chocolate is then poured into molds, which form the shape of
the bar. The chocolate cools until it becomes solid and is then
removed from the molds as chocolate bars.
Labeling
Once the bars are cooled, they are wrapped in their inner
wrapper to keep the chocolate fresh for 12-24 months.
They are then labeled, packed in cases and stacked on pallets
ready to be shipped and to be eaten!
Photos and content courtesy of Equal Exchange.
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Panama Extra Dark Chocolate Ingredients: *Organic Chocolate Liquor, *Organic Raw Cane Sugar,
*Organic Cocoa Butter,*Organic Ground Vanilla Beans. Cocoa 80% min.
(*Fair Trade Certified™)
May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews,
pistachios and pecans.
3.5 oz.
Retail: $4.25 Now: $3.95
Very Dark Chocolate Ingredients: *Organic cocoa liquor, *Syramena™ Organic Raw Cane
Sugar, *Organic cocoa butter, *Sucanat™ Organic Unrefined Whole Cane
Sugar, Organic ground vanilla. Cocoa 71% min. (*Fair Trade Certified™)
May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews,
pistachios and pecans.
3.5 oz.
Retail: $4.25 Now: $3.95
Dark Mint Chocolate (with a delicate crunch!) Ingredients: *Organic cocoa liquor, *Syramena™ Organic Raw Cane
Sugar, *Organic cocoa butter, *Sucanat™ Organic unrefined whole cane
sugar, peppermint crisps (*Organic cane sugar, Organic peppermint oil),
Organic ground vanilla beans. Cocoa 67% min. (*Fair
Trade Certified™)
May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews,
pistachios and pecans.
NEW! 3.5 oz.
Retail: $4.25 Now: $3.95
NEW! Ecuador Dark Chocolate Ingredients: *Organic Chocolate Liquor, *Organic Raw Cane Sugar, *Organic Cocoa Butter, *Organic Ground Vanilla Beans. Cocoa 65% min. (*Fair Trade Certified™). May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios and pecans.
3.5 oz.
Retail: $4.25 Now: $3.95
Organic Orange Dark Chocolate NEW! Ingredients: *Organic Chocolate Liquor, *Organic Raw Cane Sugar,
*Organic Cocoa Butter, *Organic Unrefined Whole Cane Sugar, Organic
Orange Oil, *Organic Ground Vanilla Beans. Cocoa 65% min. (*Fair Trade
Certified™)
May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews,
pistachios and pecans.
3.5 oz.
Retail: $4.25 Now: $3.95
Dark Chocolate with Espresso Bean
Ingredients: *Organic cocoa liquor, *Syramena™ Organic Raw Cane
Sugar, *Organic cocoa butter, *Sucanat™ Organic unrefined whole cane
sugar, *Organic roasted coffee beans, Organic ground vanilla beans. May
contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios
& pecans. Cocoa 55% min. (*Fair Trade Certified™)
May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews,
pistachios and pecans.
3.5 oz.
Retail: $4.25 Now: $3.95
Dark Chocolate with Almonds Ingredients: *Organic cocoa liquor, *Syramena™ Organic Raw Cane
Sugar, *Organic cocoa butter, Organic chopped almonds 10%, *Sucanat™
Organic Unrefined Whole Cane Sugar, Organic ground vanilla. Cocoa 55%
min. (*Fair Trade Certified™)
May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews,
pistachios and pecans.
Want to save money on Organic Dark Chocolates?
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Once
the pods are ripe, they are cut down from the trees, typically with
machetes or, for the higher pods, using long poles with a cutting edge.
They are cut with care so that the stalks are not damaged and can
produce fruit the following year. 
Once the cacao beans have been removed from the pods, they are fermented
to remove the mucilage, stop the bean from germinating, and to begin
flavor development. 
After
fermentation, the beans are dried, bringing the humidity of the beans
down to between 6% and 8% for storage and export. Cacao beans are often
dried in the sun, which can happen on tarps, mats, or patios. They are
continually raked so that they will dry more evenly. 
Once
the beans are processed into chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, the
manufacturing of finished products can begin. To make chocolate bars,
chocolate liquor and cocoa butter are blended with other ingredients
such as sugar, vanilla, and milk (for milk chocolate). These ingredients
are then refined. For Equal Exchange chocolate bars, this means the
particle size of the ingredients is refined to such a small size that
they cannot be felt by the human tongue, giving the chocolate much of
its smooth texture. This mixture is then "conched," or mixed and aerated
at high temperatures. This process thoroughly blends the ingredients,
taking out some of the acidity of the cacao and further developing the
flavors that will appear in the final bar. 
