The cocoa beans are grown on small plantations in the tropics (15-20 degrees north and south of the equator). Each region has its own specific characteristics. Cocoa is a sensitive crop that only starts bearing fruit 5 years after planting.

Harvesting the ripe cocoa fruits is done twice a year. After harvesting, the cocoa fruit is stripped of its jacket and the beans appear. The beans are stored in trays and covered with banana leaves, which starts the fermentation process, which gives us the typical cocoa flavor we know.

After fermentation, the beans are sun-dried and bagged for transport to cocoa factories around the world.

In the cocoa factory, the beans are inspected, cleaned of impurities and then mixed to various origins according to carefully predetermined recipes.

The core of the bean (the so-called cacaonib) is separated from the skin and then roasted and ground into a liquid mass. This mass is treated with an alkali solution (= dutchen), which makes the cocoa darker and milder.

The mass goes into a cocoa press, which separates the cocoa butter from the dry matter, which is then ground into cocoa powder with different fat contents.