Entry: Holly Houston, Clementine Leahy

As a part of their 8-week research program with the USDA, Cocoa Borlaug fellows, scientists Rhodina Cena from the Philippines, and Muhammad Junaid from Indonesia, joined WCF staff members on a tour of several WCF member companies, major participants of the cocoa supply chain.

Our first stop on this journey was in Hershey, PA, at The Hershey Company's headquarter. The team met with research & development and community relations staff to discuss industry standards for cocoa quality and what research is being done to improve crop quality in Indonesia and the Philippines.

The importance of product sustainability at the consumer level was discussed in addition to crop sustainability at the farm level. It was very informative for the fellows to see the perspective of the importers and sellers of chocolate and how bean quality directly impacts production.

Later on, we met with The Blommer Chocolate Company staff who provided a thorough tasting of chocolate liquors from beans of various origins, including Cote d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad, but also fermented and non-fermented beans. In order to illustate the presentation, beans from various origins and cocoa butter were displayed on the table. There was a clear taste differential among the liquors from different origins.

The next day, hosted by Barry Callebaut, another large processor, we were presented an informative overview of the manufacturing process from the bean to various by-products of cocoa, followed by an extensive tour of the factory.

From chocolate manufacturing to processing, we went one step up the supply chain to learn about warehousing. The next stop on the tour was the Camden International Commodities Terminal whose staff arranged for us to visit several large warehouses where cocoa bean bags are stored, inspected, and shipped to buyers.

In addition to seeing the various bean shapes, colors, and bagging details, we learned about fumigation, quality inspection and distrubution.

We would like to sincerely thank our member companies for providing an excellent overview of the various aspects of chocolate production. For our fellows who previously have only known the farm and research level, this tour offered a more complete picture of what issues are important to ensure sustainability across the supply chain.