Producing High Quality Chocolate: The Importance of Cacao Fermentation

Nathan King worked with a leading supplier of high quality cacao in the Dominican Republic, Zorzal Cacao, to establish fermentation protocols that will improve cacao quality and ultimately increase its marketability in the lucrative global chocolate market. 

Nathan has an extensive knowledge of Reserva Zorzal as he has worked as both a bird researcher and technical consultant for them in the past. On this assignment, Nathan set out to produce higher quality beans by improving the fermentation process and consistency so that there are less undesirable beans in the sorting stage. He also collaborated with the Zorzal team to design and build an electronic monitoring and logging system to closely manage the fermentation and drying processes.

During this process, Nathan used cacao elements that are typically waste products to study how it affects the taste. Esters, components used for flavor, are increased at higher temperatures and add quality to the finished chocolate product. He believes that there will be a new interest in studying the fermentation stage to positively affect the flavor of the cacao. By focusing on flavor development during the fermentation stage, the host organization can potentially add exotic flavors and avoid having to add them in the final stages of chocolate-making. 

Nathan is optimistic that customers of Zorzal Cacao will be pleased by these improved cacao processing procedures that will result in a higher quality product. For future assignments, he recommended a focus on investigating different sustainable methods for inoculating cacao as well as the effects of external factors like temperature on the fermentation process. Through Nathan's training, other local cacao farmers will also be able to improve their fermentation processes and produce more climate-resistant and high quality cacao.