Indonesian Cocoa Production

The Indonesian cocoa sector has experienced tremendous growth in the past 25 years, driven by rapid expansion of smallholder farmers  participation. Up to now, smallholders contributed 87 % of national  production, versus 8 % from state plantation and only 5 % from large private estates. Some of the smallholder’s cocoa was originally bred in Malaysia and was developed mainly for high yield but not on its flavor. Edel (fine flavored cocoa) cocoa is planted by state or large private plantation.  

The main producing area of cocoa is Sulawesi island and the remaining Indonesian cocoa production takes place in North Sumatra, West Java, and Papua, with some small production areas in Bali, Flores, and other islands. 

Indonesian Cocoa supplies several product of cocoa for domestic market and overseas ;

1. Cocoa Liquor

Chocolate liquor (cocoa liquor) is pure chocolate in its liquid form. Like the cocoa beans (nibs) from which it is produced, it contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in roughly equal proportion. It is produced from cocoa beans that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The beans are ground into cocoa mass (cocoa paste). The mass is melted to become the liquor, and the liquor is cooled and molded into blocks known as unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate). Chocolate liquor contains roughly 53 percent cocoa butter (fat), about 17 percent carbohydrates, 11 percent protein, 6 percent tannins, and 1.5 percent theobromine

2. Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter, also called obroma oil or the obroma cacao, is a pale-yellow, pure edible vegetable fat extracted form the cacao bean. It is used to make chocolate, biscuits, baked goods,pharmaceuticals, ointments, and toiletries. Cocoa butter has a mild chocolate flavor and arona

3. Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder enriches your chocolate flavour produce. It is most suitable for making compound chocolate, embriodering/coating, and bakery. Because of it's minimum finest of 99.75% through 200 mesh sieve, as well as it's less then 1.75% shell content, and cocoa powder could reduce tremendously to your produce preparation and reduce wear and tear to your equipments and machineries.

4. Cocoa Beans

Cocoa bean (also cacao bean, often simply cocoa and cacao; Mayan: kakaw; Nahuatl: cacahuatl. Cocoa is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted. They are the basis of chocolate, as well as many Mesoamerican foods such as mole sauce and tejate.

A cocoa pod (fruit) has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with the origin and variety of pod). It is filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp (called 'baba de cacao' in South America) enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and white to a pale lavender color. While seeds are usually white, they become violet or reddish brown during the drying process. The exception is rare varieties of white cacao, in which the seeds remain white.

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Indonesian Cocoa History

Cocoa, the nectar of the gods and even the cocoa tree's botanical name, 'Theobroma cacao' translated from the Greek means "food of the gods" has a history rooted in the mists of time as far back as 1662. In the early days, the native belief that cocoa tree was of divine origin and resulted in a holy ritual being performed whenever cocoa trees were planted.

Cocoa has successfully conquered all countries and continents of the world in just over 500 years since its first discovery in the ancient civilization of the Mayas and Aztecs in South America. In South America, the Aztecs considered the beverage a royal drink served in ceremonial golden goblets. The Mayas of the Yucatán and the Aztecs of Mexico cultivated cocoa and the Aztec emperor Montezuma is said to have regularly consumed a preparation called chocolatl, a mix of roasted cocoa nibs, maize, water and spice.

The cocoa tree soon began to appear in Spanish colonies some 20 years after it had been brought back by the early explorers. However, the processing of cocoa beans began in earnest, but under a veil of secrecy in monasteries. Chocolate was restricted to nobility and the recipes were kept secret for nearly 100 years. Hernando Cortez brought back the first cocoa and chocolate drink recipe to the Court of King of Spain in 1528. Gradually a transformation began. Cane sugar was added. Newly discovered spices such as vanilla and cinnamon were also used as flavourings.

Then chocolate spread, to France in 1615, the UK in 1650s and in America in 1755. There was no looking back. Cocoa and chocolate took America and the world by storm. Today it is the most popular and most relished flavour in the world.

Cocoa was first introduced to South East Asia in 17th century by the Spanish. The Spanish brought the cocoa from Latin America to the Philippines in 1670. Then, it was believed that the cocoa tree was later brought to Indonesia and Sabah in the early 18th century.

In Indonesia, cocoa was introduced by the Spaniards in 1560, in Minahasa, North Sulawesi. Until now, the former Portuguese colony remains a cultivation center for cocoa such as Sulawesi and East Nusa. In Java, around 1880, a few coffee plantations owned by the Dutch began to plant cacao trial because at the time Arabica coffee was damaged by leaf rust disease (Hemileia vastatrix). In 1888 by Henri D. MacGilavry who knows the good qualities of Venezuela cocoa, especially regarding the quality, brought in dozens of new seedlings from Venezuela. However, it is very unfortunate because that survive only one tree. At the time of the cocoa plants begin to produce fruit turns into small, flat seeds and purple katiledon, but after the resulting seeds are planted again, it can produce healthy plants, fruits and seeds are great, and do not like fruit borer cacao (cocoa mot) and Helopeltis.

The good trees were chosen as the mother plant a few trees and developed clonally. This work is done in Plantation Djati Runggo (near Salatiga, Central Java), so that the resulting clones were named DR or short Djati Runggo. Thanks to the discovery of the clones DR (DR 1, DR 2 and DR 3) This cocoa plantations can survive, and even expand as well in addition to Java to Sumatra.