Working with Cacao Growers - What does it involve?
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
Of course. I'd say, generally speaking, post harvest practices vary wildly almost everywhere, and there's a very, very low level of understanding on most farmers part of what good agricultural practices are, and the importance of good post harvest practices are and how they translate to the final product (or even what the final product is, which is a shame!). In every origin, you'll find extremes - those who know it very well, and those who don't - Columbia is no different than others in this regard.
The DR has moved largely to a wet bean buying model over the last 5 years - which has been a bit transformational for the farmer. It's much less labor for them, reduces the risk of theft, and speeds up their cash flow cycles. Most origins aren't sufficiently coordinated to do this on a large scale, and the more we see co-ops rise, the more this will change. The co-opfermentationapproach should, under the right guidance, lead to increased consistency, reduced defects (you'd hate to have highly consistent defects - which is what some origins have), which in turn should lead to a sustainable business model if the profits are applied thoughtfully for the future - one problem is many farmers don't think much about the future as they're so very focused on meeting their immediate needs. The more tools we can provide to prepare for the future, the better, and this includes not onlytrainingaround GAP's and quality, but soil nutrition, planting materials, education, health care, IPM, etc.
I'm unclear on what you're question is or what your goal is - if you're looking for a book to read to teach you how to do this, i don't think you're going to find one. If you're looking to create an organization that follows through to commercial sales, I'd urge you to contract or partner with someone who has some experience here vs trying to go it alone.
