Cocoa Beans
Great tasting chocolate begins with the cocoa bean. The specific variety of cocoa and where and how it is grown all impact its flavor. We use only the finest organically grown cocoa, principally of the Trinitario variety, to create our exquisite chocolate products with Green & Black’s signature intensity. We source these crops from many places but mainly from the Dominican Republic and Belize. The cocoa is grown using sustainable and biodiverse farming methods, thereby helping to support a balanced ecosystem. The word ‘cacao’ is the term used to describe the beans before they have been fermented.
The cocoa pods are harvested at their peak of ripeness - not too early and most definitely not too late. The farmers then remove the beans from the pods - there are about 45 cocoa beans in each pod - and cover them with banana leaves for around five days. During this time, the beans ferment and develop their pronounced chocolate flavor. After the cocoa beans are perfectly fermented, they are laid out to dry in the sun. Finally, these cocoa beans are shipped to the factory where they are ready to be transformed into Green & Black's chocolate.
