Forum Activity for @Clay

Antonino:

I am not sure what you mean by your response. The first part I get (and I don't really know the answer to it) ... the other two parts I don't know what you're saying.

:: Clay

I was sent an interesting thesis analyzing Fairtrade (i.e., FLO) in coffee in Laos.

The chapter titled Economic Sustainability contains the following information:

In addition to the overload of work the farmers must invest to gain 34 cents per pound extra, they also have to pay the Fairtrade Certification fee of US$3,460 per co-op (Euro2,378) per year and the administration fee and other fees of around US$5,000 per co-op which is not paid for by buyers (Wilson, 2006; Fridell, 2007B). Moreover, to gain the 15 cents per pound extra for organic coffee, they have to pay the Organic Certification fee of US$3,000 plus other administration fees of US$6,000. There are only 500 farmers in the co-op (JCFC, 2008), hence, it costs each farmer about US$35 to keep the certifications up to date.

This indicates that regardless of the higher gross incomes that result from higher Fairtrade prices, there is no guarantee of a positive net household income for these farmers who are charged the high costs of foreign inspectors and certification.

If these figures are correct, it costs this co-op (JCFC) over US$17,000/year to maintain both Fairtrade and organic certification. At a combined premium of US$0.20/lb it means the co-op must sell about 42 tons of coffee just to recoup the cost of certification out of the premiums paid.

The thesis also reports that the per-capita annual income in the region is US$580. This means that co-op members spend the equivalent of about 7% of their annual income to pay for certification. Many farmers report that they won't join, or have dropped out of, the co-op because the amount of work involved to meet Fairtrade standards for quality is not worth the extra effort involved.

Can anyone tell me how this is "Fair" trade?

Richard:

We really are talking apples, oranges, and kumquats here. I think the first question is what market you intend to address?

IMO, there aren't a lot of people looking to set up production facilities in par with the scale of TCHO. Their Universal is a 3MT machine and is fronted by a ball mill. Theoretically, they could be producing 15-20MT/week in their plant - from liquor as they have no roaster and, on the pier, they are not likely to.

The real growth in the market (as I see it) is how to help companies that are in their real startup phase (i.e., producing in 5Kg batches) or in small production (e.g., producing 40-50kg batches) move up to the next level of production and to do so cost effectively. Going the Mast Brothers route (without the Selmi) a used convection oven, Crankandstein, CPS (or similar) winnower, and a 65L CocoaTown costs about $10k.

What's the next step? Spending over $70K for the basic (15Kg) BLT setup is too big a jump for most startups. It's not enough increase in production to justify the price differential. The cost structure goes up but the throughput to pay for the increased costs does not go up at the same rate.

The 50Kg Netzsch ChocoEasy is about $95K right now (about 60K Euros). That number is low, because you still need the support equipment (roaster, cracker, winnower, grinder) to support it.

If I was looking to spend roughly 110K Euros on new equipment there are solutions which offer up to 400Kg/day throughput (not including tempering/molding) for that amount of money. The throughput increase is great enough to justify the cost difference.

It's also really, really, really important to note that once you get above a certain production size, what really matters is materials handling. Everything can be moved around by hand when you're doing up to a couple of hundred kilos a day, but above that you really do need to consider where you're going to be storing beans (receiving/cleaning, storage, staging before and after roasting), where you're going to be storing chaff and nib, how you're moving/pumping (and storing) liquor and finished chocolate. The issues associated with materials handling are critical when considering growth above a certain size.

Where's the tipping point? I don't know - it depends on how much experience you have. I visited Pralus's factory in 2009 and they still move everything around by hand. They have 3, 250Kg Universals (two dark, one dedicated to milk). There's a 35kg ball roaster and a cracker/winnower. I did not see where they store/age their chocolate after it comes out of the Universal and before it gets molded or what they store it in. But Pralus did not start out at this production level, he's grown into it over many years. If he started from scratch today, with little experience is that how he'd set it up? Probably not.

With respect to your question about conching. It's really about three things: final particle size reduction, breaking up agglomerates and covering all the powder particles with fat, and flavor development. The "beauty" of the Netzsch approach is that it decouples the physical processes from the flavor development processes. You run it through the ball mill until you get the particle size you want and then stop pumping the chocolate through the ball mill and only beat it and aerate it to evaporate out aromatics you don't want.

You could do the physical processes another way (e.g., a grinder into a roll refiner then into a universal for a short while) and then use a device like the Duyvis-Wiener taste changer for final flavor development. (You could also blow a lot of air through the universal using both push and pull fans.)

What's important to know - and this is where having a variety of equipment on hand helps - is that the optimum time required for the the physical processes is not the same as the optimum time required to develop flavor. If it takes 48 hours of continuous grinding to get the texture where you want it you run the risk of driving off a lot of interesting flavors.

Ben:

I would be more than happy to share what we're doing. At the moment, if this were a software project, I would characterize it as "we're still in the early design phase, have a direction, and want to do one proof of concept before we open things up to the community." Very definitely when we get to the point that we have our first physical prototype - we'll open it up for community review.

I can tell you that we are working on the impact principle. There is a long way to go from your description of a drill with plates to something that works ("hoping" the beans crack is not an option unless you have an automatic return for uncracked beans on your winnower - otherwise huge amounts of extra manual labor are involved). We actually took a look at four different approaches that I had come up with after talking to a lot of people with a lot of experience cracking cocoa and building machines, and narrowed it down to one approach that we can easily prototype.

There are a bunch of fun challenges to solve, including finding an inexpensive way to control the rate at which the beans enter the cracker. The brute force method the Crankandstein relies on won't work for this method.

Another thing we're set on doing is incorporating a small digital controller - based on an Arduino - so that users can program the speed of the central cracking mechanism as well as the feed mechanism. We'll open source that, too.

Richard:

There are differences in flavor and texture with every different combination of equipment used in the production chain. Most people never have the luxury to experiment with different production methods until they outgrow one and have to step up to a new one.

It's not always true that roll refiners and ball mills are mutually exclusive: I know of one Italian equipment manufacturer that offers a "turnkey" system that includes a roaster, cracker/winnower, roll refiner (used a liquor grinder), AND a ball mill. One of their customers has purchased an old-style melangeur and goes from the ball mill (particle size reduction) to the melangeur (using it like a conche for flavor development).

You will also find a difference between two otherwise identical roll mills - one that uses steel rollers and the other granite.

I've been working with another company that uses a large Indian-sourced wet mill to turn nibs into liquor and then uses a "universal" to convert the liquor, after it has aged, into finished chocolate.

There are some well-known and respected companies that use ball mills: Domori is one; of course, Netzsch's ChocoEasy machines incorporate their ball mils - ball mills are ideally suited to continuous production lines. One of the knocks against most conventional ball mills is uneven particle size distribution. The peak tends to be wider than other methods and their is often a bump in the tail where there are large sizes.

I would have to disagree that most startups use ball mills, though. Apart from the Netzsch machines, which are very expensive - a 50kg machine costs over $90,000 - the only other small ball mill unit I know of is from BLT. At close to $100k their "turnkey" systems are still too expensive for most startups.

My experience is that most startups start out with a small (5kg) kitchen appliance wet grinder and then graduate to one or more of the larger ones as it is comparatively economical to grow the business this way and, because the technique is essentially the same the finished product is not too different. The challenge is the support equipment. Finding comparably scaled (and priced) roasters, crackers, and winnowers is not so easy. I just solved the winnower problem (~50 lbs/hr for about $5k) and am working on an alternative to the most-used small cracker that uses an entirely different principle and should create much smaller quantities of "fines" (which increases yield). I will have a prototype sometime this summer. If it works, we plan to open-source the plans as well as offer it in kit form for those who don't want to build one themselves.

We've corresponded privately about your soon-to-open school in Irvine and I think it's something that's absolutely necessary for the industry. I applaud Qzina for taking the initiative on this. I think that starting small (with respect to batch sizes) and offering the widest possible variety of equipment to work with is a sound approach. Making good chocolate is as much (or more) ART as Science. No one way is better than another; they're all different and can all produce good chocolate. Which way (if any) is better depends on what the desired outcome is.

Three ways:

1) You can include a short note in a friend request.

2) You can add a comment to their profile and they will be notified that the comment has been added to their profile.

3) If neither 1) or 2) works, ask me to do it. As moderator, I can send messages to everyone.

Sunita:

RE: liquor/liqueur. It's a fairly common mistake, but, regardless, liqueur is only for truly alcoholic beverages.

As for how Gerard is doing what he does, I will leave it to him/Anne to tell the story.

I know search is not great. I added the Google Search box to the home page to address part of the problem and whenever you're looking for members it's best to start out using the search function on the Members page.

:: Clay

#1 - Having visited the workshop in Ashford, Kent and spoken at length with Gerard and Anne I can tell you that the liquor is sourced from various companies - it depends on the origin of the liquor. From my memory, the beans are sourced and roasted to their specs and are not "stock" products can be purchased.

#2 - It's properly spelled liquor (cocoa liquor, chocolate liquor), not liqueur.

Origin liquors are pretty widely available, but usually not in small quantities or commitments. There are people who will make them (in relatively small quantities) bespoke for you if you are interested in purchasing them and finishing the chocolate yourself.

Also from the discussion, I know that Gerard is using his chocoeasy in some pretty interesting ways to incorporate his flavors into their chocolates.

Sunita - why don't you ask them to respond to this post directly? They have a membership on TCL.

Cheebs -

Don't you think tempered cocoa butter will work a little differently? My understanding is that the crystals in Mycryo are pretty much all Form VI which accounts for their "aggressiveness" in setting up.

I don't have much experience using Mycryo in pastry, just in savory.

:: Clay

Mickey:

Without going into too much detail (i.e., specific equipment names/brands - unless you want to share) can you give us a breakdown of where you're spending that $50/100K?

So -

• Permitting and professional services (e.g., architect)
• Buildout (construction - other than electrical and plumbing)
• Electrical andPlumbing
• Cleaner
• Roaster
• Cracker / Winnower
• Grinder
• Refiner/Conche (any holding tanks?)
• Tempering / Molding
• Startup supply of beans

Just curious to see what the relative allocation of costs is.

:: Clay

BTW: There are no startup calculators/books that cover this topic specifically, though Pam Williams may go over it in her classes at Ecole Chocolat.

This is in response to another discussion that was started over in the Classifieds group asking about the cost of setting up a small confectionery kitchen.

There is a lot of interest in making chocolate from beans, both in-country and out. There are many challenges, not least of which is securing the necessary equipment. It's easy and relatively inexpensive to find equipment for the kitchen hobbyist making 5lb-5kg batches.

It's also easy (but expensive) to find equipment that can be used to make large batches (1MT) at a time.

However, it's not so easy to find equipment for most everything in between that is both affordable and where each piece is scaled to the same throughput.

Yes, there are "turn key" systems you can purchase that are scaled properly. These might cost anywhere from $80-100k on the low end, for a system roughly capable of up to 50 kg/day up to 100,000 Euros for something capable of producing between 250-400kg/day.

It's also possible to piece together systems using a combination of commercially available machinery and home-grown pieces where needed, but this requires a certain mechanical ingenuity that not everyone possesses or has the patience for.

Jim Lucas over in the thread in Classifieds , asked about what it takes to produce in-country (in Jim's case, Brazil).

New member James Swanwick asked a very good related question , which is how much does it cost to produce a single bar of chocolate. Another way to ask this question - which may be more useful - is, "What is the minimum level of production (and sales) you need to get to in order to have a real (i.e., sustainable) business?

I am really looking forward to the discussion on this.

Jeff:

I set up a country page and made you the editor ... you'll have to sign up for an account and let's talk about what the page should contain.

http://www.discoverchocolate.com/wikilists/doku.php

:: Clay

For some time, I've been striving to maintain databases of chocolate makers, blogs, and more and have been frustrated with the lack of good tools for doing this (i.e., flexible database tools that did not require huge amounts of expensive customization).

Therefore, I've decided to change things up and open things up and start something that could eventually become " the Wikipedia of Chocolate " (and be much more useful).

TheChocolateLife Resource Wiki is not a place to engage in discussions or make blog posts.It's a place to aggregate resources for community access. At the moment there are sections for Chocolatiers (chocolate makers), Confectioners, Blogs, Cocoa Merchants, References, and more. As the Wiki grows, it will include more categories.

If this is a project you'd like to get involved with, I am interested in working with people who are interested in becoming section editors. Let me know.

As with any Wiki, the respect of the community is vital. It's not a place to flame. For the most part I am interested in collecting facts - opinions can be expressed here on TheChocolateLife.

Please note that your ChocolateLife login will not work automatically on the Wiki. You'll be asked to create a new account.

:: Clay

The container of the Thermomix is 2 quart (the same as a small Blixer); however the motor is not really designed to handle dense high-fat products like marzipan and pralins. Some things can be done, in small batches - much smaller than the max capacity of the container. Questions are - a) what kind of strain does it put on the motor (reducing working life) and b) do the quantities that can be produced match the quantity needed?

Ganaches are not hard to make over the stove with an immersion blender to guarantee the emulsion.

If I could afford to have only one it would be the Blixer. If cost were not an issue, I might go with both and experiment with producing a variety of other items such as pates de fruits.

Andrea:

I have looked at the Thermomix on a number of occasions over the past couple of years trying to assess its place in a chocolate kitchen. While it can be used to make ganaches and other fillings if you take a close look at all the videos I don't see anything that involves very dense fat-heavy applications like nut pastes - marzipan, pralins, etc.

They're not cheap either and not available directly in the US; you have to buy them from Canada but they do honor the warranty from what I hear.

If you're going to be working with nuts, and you only plan on getting one machine, the Robot Coupe is the better choice. You're going to want one with a "Blixer" designation - blender/mixer.

:: Clay

Linda:

I know several people who would be interested in a metering pump that could handle larger inclusions ... perhaps there's a way to get it done sooner rather than later? ... Let me know. What kind of diameter are you planning to be able to handle?

:: Clay

The butter press operated by a hydraulic jack has been around for a while. I saw my first one in Venezuela in 2006 and I recently met the guy who designed and fabricated them. Right now, the political situation in Venezuela makes it difficult to work with people there.

What you can't see here is that there is a tap hole drilled in the plate of the piston/plunger and there is a plastic tube attached to this tap hole. The cocoa butter is expressed through this hole. The plunger/plate is to the right of the press.

These are simple and relatively inexpensive to make and do not have any means to heat the pot that contains the cocoa liquor.

Tom:

What is very expensive for what you can produce? Cacao Cucina? We've moved off of the original topic of this post.

Mark -

When you get a chance, a video of the machine in operation would be fun to see, also a photo of whatever hoper design you put together. I wonder if you can make a simple hopper from a 5-liter water bottle?

This is great news for small craft producers.

A 35 kilo batch of 70% chocolate at 10% added cocoa butter is what ... about 2-3 kilos? This could easily be done in short order it sounds like.

Real, single-origin chocolate ... where the butter is from the same origin as the beans ... on a budget.

Jessica -

It's been about 3 years since you started this thread, where are you on your journey?

There are some reasons to like the CC equipment here in the US - one of the most compelling is that it's UL and NSF certified (which has added to the cost). That said, as Brad and others have pointed out, the equipment is expensive for the throughput it provides (the possible exception is the Win45 winnower).

Mark says that he was quoted over US$100,000 for his system, and I would really like to know what CC is saying is the daily maximum throughput for that price.

It is possible to put together a system (without a cocoa butter press but including a tempering machine) capable of producing up to 100kg per day for under US$50,000. I don't know that I'd want to spend less than this (though many people do - the tradeoff being more labor).

Mark:

If you have a link to the cocoa butter press I'd be very interested in seeing it.

Nat:

There is food-grade silicon used to make ... molds. It can probably be colored, too. Available through Chef Rubber, among others.

:: Clay

Robyn -

The health department regulations are going to vary state by state, county by county, and city by city (where is Scandia?). The only way to find out is to go ask, or if you are lucky, go on-line. NYC government bureaucracy is messed up in a lot of ways, but the nyc.gov web site does an excellent job of letting any who wants to open a food business in NYC know that they need to know to open any kind of food business. Unfortunately, none of that applies to where I live in Westchester if I wanted to open up exactly the same business in Westchester.

The only way to know is to ask your local health department. Oh, and keep in mind that there may be state and/or county permits and/or licenses that may be required as well as local ones.

As for the type of mobile unit you're talking about ... decide what you want to do, then choose the vehicle (pun intended) that will let you do it. A small hot-dog cart may be good only for selling prepared items. A food truck would mean that you can prepare stuff to order ... if that's what you want to do. Another thing to consider is that except for storage (ingredients, finished product to be sold), a food truck, kitted out properly, could be large enough to produce product for a million dollar plus business and could cost less than the same amount of space in a commercial structure.

As for farmer markets, there are a number of ChocolateLife members who've started successful businesses at the markets and I will let them tell their stories ...

I am writing the second in a series of articles for Dessert Professional magazine on "Perfect Kitchens" (the first was on ice cream and gelato kitchens).

When you think about your "perfect kitchen" for making confections, what comes to mind?

When you think about your current work space, what things come to mind that you wished you knew before you made some critical decisions ... before you went ahead and implemented them?

The answers can be on any topic from design and construction (including utilities), to licensing and permitting, to equipment and tool selection. This isn't an article about ingredients so opinions about specific chocolates is not something I am looking for.

I am also interested in hearing some real-life stories of good (and not so good) experiences using rental kitchens. You don't have to name names, just let me know what did and did not go well - and how you might approach this issue in the future now that you have more experience.

The article is for the June-July issue and the editorial deadline about May 1, so any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated. I know it's the Easter rush so I've waited this long in the hopes that in the relative quiet of early next week you might have some time to help me out.

I am going to try to work a deal on discount subscriptions to the magazine not only for everyone who contributes but also for any ChocolateLife member who contributes.

Thanks in advance,
:: Clay

PS. Contributions can be attributed or anonymous, and I will send everyone whose writings I use a heads up on how I used them before I submit the article for final approval.

Arnold:

Did you keep the label / outer wrap? If so, please take a picture with your phone (or scan) of the entire label and post it here.

The description you provide is very, very general and could apply to many chocolates - translated it basically means "74% cocoa Superior Dark Chocolate Square."

Yes, the comments apply to bars as well.

Bars present different issues in production, not the least of which is packaging.

In the end you have to make it interesting for the manufacturer to do business with you.

Geetha:

You are in a classic startup situation here: You see an opportunity but want to gauge the marketplace before committing to large production. The challenge here will be to find a confectioner (I am assuming you are talking about some sort of bonbon here and not bars) who is willing to work with to develop custom recipes without any commitment on your part with respect to eventual purchases of the recipes you develop.

In the cases where I've been involved in brokering relationships like these where the client has limited resources (i.e., not a lot of money to invest) it has always turned out that the first products to be tested were variations of existing products the manufacturer already made. For example, a specific center (e.g., a caramel or pralin) in a different mold or decorated differently. In this way the concept you are trying to develop can be tested. Once the concept proves out and there is some basis on which to plan production, then custom flavors can be discussed.

I have yet to be successful in persuading a manufacturer to do all of the development work "on the come" so to speak, especially where the client feels that their recipes are differentiable.

If you do have the resources, be prepared (and offer) to pay for the recipe development; it can be surprisingly inexpensive. This way it's much clearer who "owns" the recipes and you can establish a mutually beneficial working business relationship from the very beginning.

Klassy:

In addition to waiting until the chocolate is completely crystallized (how long depends on temperature), I would also recommend using something soft and flat to press the transfer on to the chocolate. Many people I know use wine corks (cork, not synthetic).

:: Clay

Sebastion:

Before it's possible to answer this question it's important to know exactly what you want to produce and in what quantities:

• Nib
• Liquor (how refined?)
• Butter
• Powder
• Finished chocolate

:: Clay

Sebastion:

Sebastian is right: your budget is unrealistic.

You will find it difficult to produce this amount of finished chocolate for this money.

You may be able to purchase equipment used but it will most likely need extensive (and expensive) refurbishing.

One thing you may not have budgeted for: If your location does not have the necessary power (at least 400 amp 3-phase 480) the cost of getting the necessary service installed from your local utility company and your facility wired could easily cost $40,000all by itselfif it were being done in the US . I can't speak for what it might cost on the island you want to build on.

Another thing to consider at this scale (it's less of an issue in smaller batches) is materials storage and handling.

:: Clay

Carol:

It's easier if you do everything metric and my recommendation is to weigh everything: get away from volumetric recipes. This relies on the fact that in the metric system, for these purposes, 1cc = 1ml = 1gr (close enough; it's really only precisely accurate for distilled water at 20C/68F (?) at sea level).

If the total weight of the ganache (chocolate, dairy, alcohol, other ingredients) is 1000 grams and you've added 10gr of alcohol, then the alcohol is 1% ABV. Simple. 5gr of alcohol in 350gr of ganache? ~1.4%

However, as I think about this, that's not entirely correct, because you need to consider proof. An 86 proof alcoholic beverage is only 43% alcohol. So if you add 10gr of - say - 86 proof rum to a recipe you're only adding 4.3gr of alcohol. The rest is water and flavorings. The math is still easy. In the case of 10gr of rum in a 1000gr recipe, the alcohol content is ~.43% ABV.

Now as I said, this is not 100% accurate past the first digit. But for hobby work, it should be more than close enough. If you plan to sell commercially interstate, then the labeling laws may require more precise measurement.

:: Clay

PS. Take your existing volume measures across making the recipe 5 or 10 times and weigh them. You'd be shocked to find out how inconsistent volume measuring is. Average the weights and use the average as the weight in your recipe.

Carol:

The usual method of production is to add the alcohol to the ganache and then pipe the flavored ganache into the shells, wait for the ganache to crystallize, and then enrobe.

The right amount to add isto taste and would depend on a number a number of factors including the kind of chocolate in the ganache and the strength (flavor and proof) of the spirit you're using. You'd use a lot less of a huge peaty Scotch like Peat Monster (for example) than other alcohols because it's so strong.

Keep in mind that you subtract the amount of alcohol you're using from the amount of other liquid (milk, cream) you're using for the ganache.

:: Clay

In response to a question from ChocolateLife member Dee:

As the creator of TheChocolateLife one of the options I have to is to "Feature" members. I do this as a way to recognize ChocolateLife members who post photos of themselves in their profiles.

Practically, what being Featured means is that the member's profile photo is displayed on the home page as well as on the Members page. Only the five most recently featured members are shown on the Members page; 27 members are featured on the Home page.

As new members are featured, older ones are no longer displayed even though they are still tagged as featured. I never "unfeature" members.

How does a member get featured?
I only feature members who post pictures of themselves in their profiles. If you use the default avatar image, post a company logo, a photo of your work, a photo of a smoking chimp, a cartoon image - anything other than a photo of a recognizable person - then you aren't featured. If you post a photo of someone who is obviously not you (e.g., a celebrity) you won't get featured.

It's not a perfect system as I never feature more than a few members at a time. So - you may have added a photo to your profile but it escaped my attention in the Latest Activity listing.

Iwant members to post photos of themselves, when they feel comfortable doing so, as a way to grow the feeling that TheChocolateLife is a real community composed of real people - not a group of strangers.

Sebastian is right ... there is no inexpensive machinery to do this. You can either do the solvent extraction yourself (not recommended unless you are comfortable with bench chemistry and have the equipment already) or send it out to a lab for analysis.

There is at least one machine you can buy to do this. I don't know the price but it uses NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) techniques so it's not likely to be cost-effective unless you are going to be measuring hundreds of samples. Attached is a PDF brochure.

:: Clay

PS. Search for "cocoa fat content measure" on Google. The first search result is this discussion.

This discussion was (for some reason) continued here .

This discussion has been closed to further comments. Please add any comments to the new discussion.

Emilio -

This is not the best place to have this particular discussion but as there are replies I will make mine here.

The main challenge you face is the quantity of production. 1MT is not very much. What I am afraid is is that the cost to find other buyers for the beans be more than the increased price he can get on such a small quantity.

For example, while you may find buyers for the beans (especially if they are unusual genetics or of unusually high quality or both), the export costs are going to be extremely high, and your father is going to need to get export licenses. This does not include the costs (and time) associated with marketing the beans.

It may make more sense for you father to do something with the beans (turn it into a finished product) and sell that than selling the beans themselves. If he's only getting 50kg/Ha of dried beans he's probably growing other things that could be combined with the cocoa/chocolate in a unique way that can bring in more money.

Jodie:

There are several ChocolateLife members who are going to be in the DR at that time. While I will put together a list of suggestions for everyone, I suggest you follow up with Bent Ahm about the co-op in Hato Mayor as well as get in touch with ChocolateLife member "Marabel Farms" who operates a plantation along the north coast.

Here is a link to another discussion where people are discussing plans.

:: Clay

Is This Trip For You

Trips "in country" (that is, to a country where cacao is grown) do involve a fair amount of physical activity. On this trip to the Dominican Republic we will be doing a fair amount of walking (during a guided tour of the Zona Colonial as well as through cacao plantations), swimming (river and ocean), and potentially horseback riding.

It is not necessary that you speak Spanish. Of course, a little familiarity goes a long way in helping you understand what's going on. There will be at least one bi-lingual guide accompanying the group the entire way.

You should also have experience traveling internationally and feel comfortable negotiating foreign airports. If this is the first time you will be traveling internationally , contact Clay to determine if this trip is right for you.

One of the great opportunities a trip like the offers is exposure to different cuisines. While we will make all reasonable efforts to cater to specific dietary requirements, it is not possible for the organizers to guarantee, for example, that a guest requiring a 100% raw or vegan diet, or that some types of food allergies, can be accommodated. If you have specific dietary requirements, please contact Clay.

Traveling to the Dominican Republic

R/T airfare is not included in the price of the tour. Las Americas (airport code SDQ) is the country's major international airport and is nearest to Santo Domingo, the capital. Unless you have plans to arrive early and/or stay late, it's best to plan to book your flights into SDQ. There will be someone at SDQ to greet your flight after you clear customs and immigration and help you get to the hotel.

Travel Documents, Visas, Health Information

Documentation and Visa requirements vary from country to country. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have any necessary tourist visas, vaccinations (please contact your health professional), etc. For travelers from the US, visit:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1103.html
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/dominican-republic.aspx

Tourist Card

If you do not already have a valid tourist visa you will be charged US$10 for a tourist card on arrival. This must be paid in $US or EUROs (). Local currency, GBP, etc, will not be accepted. A departure tax of US$20 (cash) is payable on most charter and some scheduled flights. If you are flying on a US carrier, the departure tax is always included in the taxes when you purchased your ticket, so you will not have to pay anything when leaving.

Airport Transfers (not included in the trip price)

A taxi from SDQ Airport to Santo Domingo Zona Colonial) is about $40 (official rate as of October 2008, but sometimes you can get it for around $25-30 and we are working to negotiate special rates with a local taxi provider). There are no hotel courtesy shuttles at airports in the Dominican Republic.

Taxis and other transportation

Transportation to all activities listed in the trip itinerary (with the exception of airport transfers) is included. However, not all time is scheduled and you may wish to take a taxi somewhere.

Taxi services are available. In all cases, its a good idea to go with a licensed driver and negotiate a price for your destination before you get in the taxi. Good drivers are often easy to identify by licenses worn around the neck, uniforms, and clean air conditioned vehicles. When calling a taxi company (it's best to have the hotel or restaurant do this for you), you will be given a number to verify your driver. When being picked up, make sure your driver gives you the right number as false pickups are often a prelude to robbery.

Exchanging Money

At the airport, you can exchange your US$ and to Dominican Pesos. You may not be able to exchange back local money to US$ and in your home country, so do it before leaving. As always, the best deal on currency exchange is to withdraw cash at an ATM machine as you need it rather than exchanging bills or traveler's checks at a cambio.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is recommended for the trip (and is not included in the cost). At a minimum, you should plan to purchase insurance that covers the full cost of the trip, including transportation, in case for any reason the trip is canceled or you cannot make it because of weather or other delays.

What to Bring

A complete list of what to bring will be provided to everyone who signs up for the trip.

Cancelation Policy

Available upon request.

Discover Chocolate in the Dominican Republic is for chocolate professionals and serious chocophiles with a passion for chocolate who want to experience cacao first hand: to see cacao pods growing on the tree, taste fresh cacao pulp, see and smell fermentation and drying ... in short, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the magical and complex process of growing, harvesting, and processing wet cacao into the dried cocoa beans used to make chocolate.

Discover Chocolate in ... trips are comprised of a mix of local culture and cacao/chocolate activities because knowing about the local culture - history, food, society - is important to understanding cacao and chocolate. The Dominican Republic (or, more precisely, the island of Hispaniola) holds a special place in the history of cocoa and chocolate. Santo Domingo, the capital, is the oldest European city in the New World and the island is one of the first places outside Central America where cacao was transplanted by the Spanish.

Discover Chocolate in The Dominican Republic starts in Santo Domingo with an exploration of the Old City (the Zona Colonial) and follows a counter-clockwise path around the island to Hato Mayor, the largest city in the Oriente (the east) and the center of cacao production in the area. In the region we'll be visiting two cacao plantations, one a small co-op and the other an older farm selling cacao to respected chocolate makers internationally.

We will spend a night at one of the quirkiest hotels anywhere, located on the edge of a vast nature preserve, and enjoy some fine tipica comida y criolla beforecrossing the Bay of Samana to spend some time enjoying the world-famous Dominican beaches and other scenic beauty.

From the Samana Peninsula we head west towards San Francisco de Macoris. In the west and along the way we will visit four cacao plantations, including a model cacao farm maintained by one of the largest cacao processors on the island as well as a farm being newly rehabilitated.

Each day of the trip will be a mix of cultural and cacao/cocoa/chocolate activities which, taken together, will increase your understanding of cacao, cocoa, and chocolate, and the local culture. A feature of every Discover Chocolate In ... program are the optional informal evening gatherings in the hotel where the group is staying that are forums wide-ranging discussions covering all things cacao, cocoa, and chocolate. Two evenings will include tasting events - chocolate one night, and Dominican rums another. On the recent Discover Chocolate in Paris trip (October 2010), these discussions often started around 7pm and lasted until past midnight on at least one occasion. Any topic about chocolate is open for discussion, from very technical discussions about post-harvest processing to talking through retail business concepts.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Saturday, May 21st

Today you fly to the Dominican Republic, landing at Las Americas airport, located to the east of the capital city of Santo Domingo. After clearing customs and immigration, a greeter will get you to a taxi to the Zona Colonial, the heart of the old city, where you will check in to the Hotel Beaterio (or similar).

Depending on when you arrive, you will have an opportunity to freshen up, relax in your room, or start to explore the Zona Colonial. A welcome dinner at a restaurant in the nearby Parqueo Colon is scheduled for the evening. In addition to being able to meet everyone on the trip), Clay will go over the itinerary for the week, answer any last-minute questions anyone might have, and generally get the week off to a great start.

Sunday, May 22nd

Today will be spent easing into the time zone. After breakfast in the hotel, we will take a guided walking tour of highlights of the Zona Colonial. The tour will include a visit to the Mercado Modelo, the major market in the city. After the morning walking we'll lunch at Meson de la Cava before returning to the Zona Colonial to continue our tour of the city. Optionally, you canreturn to the hotel where you can partake of a very excellent local custom (siesta). Dinner is on your own. Clay and the hotel staff will work with you to arrange your evening which can include a visit to a local casino.

Monday, May 23rd

Be sure to wear swimming gear under your clothes! After an early breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we're on our way to the town of Hato Mayor. There we will visit a small cocoa cooperative that sells beans to CONACADO. In addition to walking through their cacao farms and seeing how they do their post-harvest processing, everyone will have the chance to taste the other products the group makes from cacao - including chocolate para la taza (drinking chocolate), cacao pulp marmalade, and cacao vinegar.

From there we travel just outside the town of El Valle for a catered al fresco picnic lunch at Rio Yanigua reserve. Rio Yanigua is known locally for the special grey clay (no relation) on the river bottom, revered for its curative and restorative powers. The water really is nice and a dip/dunk (souvenir towels provided) is an option while lunch is being set up.

After lunch we're off to Hacienda Elvesia (the Swiss Farm). This is the farm that supplies beans to Felchlin for their 74% Cru Hacienda bars (among other chocolate makers). Here you will have the opportunity to see a much larger scale operation than the co-op we visited earlier in the day. The differences in post-harvest processing techniques will be explained.

After we leave Elvesia it's off to our hotel, El Paraiso Cao Hondo .To say that Cao Hondo is a little quirky is an understatement. The architecture reminds me of a cross between Swiss Family Robinson - if the head of the Robinson clan was actually the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi ... with streams running everywhere. It's a truly special place. After checking in and relaxing we'll sit down to dinner - the fish soup I had the last time I was there was stellar. After dinner there will be an optional informal gathering to discuss the day ... and a chocolate tasting.

Tuesday, May 24th

After breakfast and checking out of the hotel, the morning will be spent in a group activity in the Los Haitises National Reserve to learn a little about the natural history of the island and the native Taino Indians.

From there, it's across the Bay of Samana to the Cayo Levantado, a small island near the mouth of the bay. There we will have lunch, relax, explore, and swim. After lunch we travel to Las Terrenas on the North Coast of the island, famed for its beaches. Our destination is the all-inclusive resort El Portillo, where rest of the day is free to enjoy on your own. After dinner, the group will gather for the optional discussion.

An aerial view of Cayo Levantado.

Wednesday, May 25th

The Dominican Republic is known worldwide for the beauty of its beaches and other natural attractions. Just past the mid-way point of our trip, this day has been set aside to relax and explore the natural beauty of the Samana Peninsula. The day will start with an (optional) trip to Limon Waterfall (on horseback or on foot if you prefer; snacks and water provided), where you will have the opportunity to swim in the pool under the waterfall.

El Limon Waterfall

From Limon Waterfall we return to El Portillo where the rest of the day is free to relax, explore, or enjoy the resort's attractions. We will dine together as a group and the after-dinner group discussion will include a Dominican rum tasting.

Thursday, May 26th

After checking out of the resort, we head along the coast to the town of Nagua where we will turn inland on our way to San Francisco de Macoris. Our first stop will be the new in-development Cacao Prieto farm where we will see their nursery and learn about their plans to grow the first large-scale plantation in the world that will be planting stands of 100% white bean porcelana strains. Two other cacao plantations are on the itinerary for the day as we travel to the town of San Francisco de Macoris wherewe will check into our hotel, Las Caobas. After dinner will be the group meeting.

Friday, May 27th

On today's calendar is a visit to a model cacao farm operated by Rizek Cacao, one of the largest cocoa processors in the Dominican Republic. The planting of the farm itself is a contrast to some of the others we've seen. After the visit and lunch, it's time to return to Santo Domingo.

After checking in to our hotel and freshening up, it's off to Restaurant El Conuco , famed for its Dominican cuisine ... and dance and music demonstrations. A fitting send off for our week together!

Saturday, May 28th

Check out of hotel, return home.

Optional

Additional nights are available in Santo Domingo at a good rate at the end of the trip for those who would like to extend their stay.

THIS TRIP HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL 2012.

Discover Chocolate in the Dominican Republic is for chocolate professionals and serious chocophiles with a passion for chocolate who want to experience cacao first hand: to see cacao pods growing on the tree, taste fresh cacao pulp, see and smell fermentation and drying ... in short, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the magical and complex process of growing, harvesting, and processing wet cacao into the dried cocoa beans used to make chocolate.

Price
$1850 p/p single occupancy
$1599 p/p double occupancy

There is a 12 person minimum required to make the trip, 15 people maximum.

Early-Bird Pricing
Paid in full by March 30, 2011
$1650 p/p single occupancy
$1399 p/p double occupancy

Referral Discount/Commission
$50 discount/commission (single rooms only)

The price includes:
All breakfasts, most lunches, and all dinners specifically mentioned.Transportation via private charter coach.Accommodation.Souvenir beach towel.Two group tasting sessions.

NOT included in the price:
R/T airfare to Santo Domingo.Arrival and departure taxes.Airport transfers.Meals not specifically included.Tips at hotels.Your bar bills.Personal expenses (e.g., souvenirs).

To make Reservations and Payment

Send a message to Clay Gordon.