Cocoa
From the bean to the powder. Pick your point in the chain.
Indonesia grows an enormous amount of cocoa and exports most of it raw. We work further down the chain than that — so you can buy the bean, the mass, the butter or the powder from the same desk.
Product forms
Five forms, one supply chain
Fermented Dried Beans
Sun-dried, fermented beans graded on bean count and defect tolerance, packed in jute for container shipment.
Cocoa Nibs
Roasted, winnowed and cracked. The bean without the shell — for bean-to-bar makers and bakery.
Cocoa Mass / Liquor
Nibs ground to a fluid mass. The base for chocolate manufacturing and compound production.
Cocoa Butter
Pressed from the mass. Deodorised or natural, in 25 kg cartons.
Cocoa Powder
Natural and alkalised, in standard and high-fat specifications, for beverage and bakery lines.
Grading
The standard your contract will name
Indonesian cocoa is contracted against the ASEAN Standard for Cocoa Bean (ASEAN Stan 34:2014). Size is bean count per 100 g; quality is a defect tolerance class. Both are stated on the specification sheet issued with your shipment.
Size grades — bean count per 100 g
| Size code | Bean count |
|---|---|
| Size 1 | Fewer than 100 beans / 100 g |
| Size 2 | 101 – 110 beans / 100 g |
| Size 3 | 111 – 120 beans / 100 g |
| Size 4 | More than 120 beans / 100 g |
Quality classes — defect tolerance
| Parameter | Extra | Class I | Class II |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moisture content | max 7.5% | max 7.5% | max 7.5% |
| Mouldy beans | under 3% | under 3% | under 4% |
| Slaty beans | under 3% | under 5% | under 8% |
| Insect-damaged & germinated | under 2.5% | under 3% | under 5% |
| Waste by weight | free | max 2% | declared |
Source: ASEAN Standard for Cocoa Bean, ASEAN Stan 34:2014. Beans are shipped dry at not more than 7.5% moisture across all classes. Lot-specific results are issued on the certificate of analysis.
Origins
Where Indonesian cocoa comes from
Sulawesi
Indonesia’s volume heartland — Central, South and West Sulawesi. Consistent bulk supply.
Sumatra
North Sumatra, Aceh and Lampung. Firm bean structure, strong classic cocoa character.
Bali & Java
Smaller estates and cooperatives working to fine-flavour fermentation protocols.
Flores & Papua
Eastern Indonesia lots, generally in limited volume and micro-lot format.
Processing
Fermentation is where the flavour is decided
A slaty bean is an under-fermented bean, and no amount of roasting fixes it. That is why the defect class matters more than the size grade for anyone making chocolate rather than compound.
- Fermented and sun-dried, then graded on cut test
- Moisture held at or under 7.5% before bagging
- Jute bags for container shipment; other packing on request
- Semi-finished forms produced to your fat and pH specification
Next step
Tell us where in the chain you buy.
Bean, nib, mass, butter or powder — the specification sheet and samples follow the same day we understand your product.