fair trade

Hard Work
Growing Cocoa
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THE COCOA BEAN
Each pod contains beans surrounded by a sweet pulp, which
attract animals (and humans, too, since it’s so tasty!). Pods are
cracked open, often with a machete or wooden club, to remove
the beans, surrounded by white pulp. There are roughly 30-50
beans in a typical pod and these beans are what ultimately get
transformed into cocoa powder or chocolate.
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FERMENTATION
Once the pods are harvested, they are cracked open. For a higher
quality bean, the beans are fermented (they undergo a chemical
conversion) to remove the pulp, to stop the bean from germinating,
and to begin flavor development.
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UNIT 2: Understanding Fair Trade • CLASS 1: Hard Work