Building Australias cocoa industryCHOCOLATE IS WORTH $1.4 billion in Australia, and single-originis the fastest growing trend with-inthisindustry.However,thereareongoingcon-cernsoverglobalcocoasupplyshortages,making efforts to establish new cocoa industries crucial.Twentyyearsagoitwasthoughtimpossibleto grow cocoa here in Australia. It wasn't until the year 2000thattheQueenslandgovernmentapproved the first of a series of trials to be undertaken in the DaintreeRainforest,andin2002thefirstcocoa pods were harvested in Mossman, Queensland.In2010,aftereightyearsofresearch,studies concludedthatthefoothillsoftheUNESCO heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest provided the ideal conditions for cocoa to thrive. From there Australian-madechocolatefromAustralian-grown cocoa was finally born. Toimproveefficienciesintheindustry,the Queenslandgovernment,togetherwithitsre-search and development partners, created a pro-totype for a mechanical cocoa pod splitter. This machineisestimatedtosplitapproximately 5000cocoapodsperhour.Linkedwithanother machine,whichseparatesthewetbeansfrom the split pods, the whole system, once successful, will greatly reduce labour costs.A fledgling company, Daintree Estates Cocoa, is involved in the study and further refinement of thetechnology,andtheprototypeiscurrently undergoing testing and improvement.Earlierthisyearthecompanyachievedanim-pressive milestone in the local chocolate industry whenitfinishedconstructiononits dedicated post-harvest pod processing facility in Mossman.Post-harvest processing is an integral part of cre-ating the best flavour precursors in choco-late. The facility handles pod splitting and beanextraction,fermentation,drying, roasting, cracking and winnowing.DaintreeEstatesalsohasasmall-scalechocolate-makingoperation whererecipedevelopment,conching, tempering and moulding operations are tested.Newmachinesforthecocoain-dustryarealsotestedforimprovement and refinement. The facility provides an integralstepincreatingandcrafting Australianchocolateanddevelopingandim-proving current cocoa processing practices.LAYING THE GROUNDWORKThefacilityislargelybasedontraditionalcocoa processing methods practised and refined through trial and error around the world. From there, Dain-tree Estates has selected and adapted procedures thatarebestsuitedfortheAustralianenviron-ment. While some processes are mechanised, oth-ers, such as the fermentation process, rely greatly on natural chemical reactions imparting distinct flavour precursors on the cocoa.The cocoa pods take approximately five to six monthstoripenandmatureonthetree.Once ripe,thepodsarecarefullyharvestedbythe farmersandplacedincratestobedeliveredto the post-harvest facility.Daintree Estates Cocoa is breaking new ground in cocoa farming and chocolate production in Australia. Elaine Young takes a look inside the companys post-harvest facility.Food&Drink BUSINESS|June 2015 16PERFECTINGTHE PROCESSAlabour-intensiveprocessfol-lows whereby the pods are split byhandandthebeansarere-moved from the shell. This pro-cessisundertakenwithintwo days of harvesting.Once all the beans have been removedfromthepodstheyareplacedinsideporouswoodenboxes madeofquila.Woodhasgoodinsulatingpropertiesandcanholdthe natural yeast necessary to trigger the process of fermentation.Fermentationtriggerschemicalreactions,whichcreateflavourpre-cursorsinthecocoa,eventuallytransformingintobeautifulchocolate aromas.Ifthisisnotmanagedcarefully,thechocolatewillnothavea good flavour profile despite the quality of the cocoa beans used. During thisprocess,thecocoabeansgetanidentity.Theperceptionofcitrus tonescorrelatetoaciditylevel,andflavoursofberriesandfloralnotes come from alcohols produced by yeasts during fermentation. These fla-vour notes affect the final product. Due to seasonal temperature changes, the challenge is controlling the rate offermentationtoachieveconsistentresults.DaintreeEstatesisstudying different processes to maintain consistency in the fermentation process. Ex-periments on procedures that allow them to control certain factors are per-formed at the post-harvest facility where they explore techniques and process-es that are practised in cheese and wine making that may have parallel results. THE DRYING STAGEThe next step is the drying of thecocoabeans.Thebeans are dried in a natural process wherefermentedbeansare laid on steel trays placed in a purpose-builtshelterand gentlydriedunderthesun, allowing the remaining acids in the seeds to evaporate and producealow-acid,high-co-coa flavoured product. The whole process is dependent on ambient tem-perature and humidity levels, which can take up to 10 days. The rate of dryinghasanimportanteffectontheflavourandqualityofthedried beans: too slow and mould may develop, too fast and oxidative reactions are not completed thoroughly. Correctly drying the beans reduces mois-ture content and makes the beans resistant to spoilage. In high humidity regions, artificial drying methods are used. These methods, incorrectly performed, can create harsh, smoky aromas that contaminate the taste of the cocoa beans and inhibit the evaporation of acetic acid, resulting in beans with a sour flavour profile.READY FOR ROASTING At this point, the post-harvest process is finished. However, the next steps in cocoa processing are also performed in the facility. This first involves roast-ing.Thisdelicateprocessbuildsontheflavourprecursorscreatedduring fermentation and drying. The cocoa beans are roasted using a 20kg drum roaster. Various flavours are awakened due to the effect of the Maillard reac-tion where hundreds of dif-ferentflavourcompounds arecreated,whichinturn breakdowntoformyet morenewflavourcom-pounds,resultinginfla-vour precursors being con-vertedintorichcaramel and nutty flavour notes.The roasted beans then gothroughaprocessof winnowingwherethe shells are separated from the beans. The beans are cracked separating the nibsfromthehusks.Withmovementandtherightamountofairflow,the lighter weight husks are separated from the nibs. The nibs are then ground into cocoa mass along with other ingredients to produce chocolate where it will go through a process of conching. CREATING A PASTEConching is the process of grinding the co-coamassintoveryfinesmoothpaste.The facilityinMossmanhasasmall-scalepro-duction set-up where conching is carried out using a nib pregrinding cycle, followed by a stonegroundmelangercycle.Recipedevel-opment and testing are also performed on-site. Larger production quantities are sent to DaintreeEstates'contractedprocessing chocolaterefiners.Bothtypesofconching produce a final chocolate that has a particle sizelessthan18microns,whichthehumantonguecannolongerrecogniseas gritty. Prolonged conching time gentrifies the flavours in the chocolate. This is the final stage of flavour development. The fluid chocolate is then pre-crystallised and moulded into chocolate blocks or bars. 17June 2015|Food&Drink BUSINESSplant design & ftoutABOUT THE AUTHORElaine Young is a consulting pastry chef and chocolatier who provides expert advice and creative input for pastry and chocolate operations to the hospitality and food manufacturing industries. She can be contacted at elaine@ediblejourneys.com.au.!"#$%#$ '() *+,-+./ totalconstructon.com.au!"#$% 01$#"23"454( )*+,-.