76 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 



manufacturer : By good I mean large, ripe, well-cured beans. By 

 indifferent I mean unripe and unfermented. By abominable I 

 mean germinated, mouldy, and grubby beans. Happily, the 

 last class is quite a small one. 



planter : You don't mean to tell me that only the good cacao sells ? 



manufacturer : Unfortunately, no ! There are users of inferior 

 beans. Practically all the cacao produced good and indifferent 

 is bought by someone. Most manufacturers prefer the fine, 

 healthy, well fermented kinds. 



planter : Well fermented ! They have a strange way of showing 

 their preference. Why, they often pay more for Guayaquil than 

 they do for Grenada cacao. Yet Guayaquil is never properly 

 fermented, whilst that from the Grenada estates is perfectly 

 fermented. 



manufacturer : Agreed. Just as you would pay more for a badly- 

 trained thoroughbred than for a well-trained mongrel. It's 

 breed they pay for. The Guayaquil breed is peculiar ; there is 

 nothing else like it in the world. You might think the tree had 

 been grafted on toaspice tree. It has a fine characteristic aroma, 

 which is so powerful that it masks the presence of a high per- 

 centage of unfermented beans. However, if Guayaquil cacao 

 was well-fermented it would (subject to the iron laws of Supply 

 and Demand) fetch a still higher price, and there would not 

 be the loss there is in a wet season when the Guayaquil cacao, 

 being unfermented, goes mouldy. I think in Grenada they 

 plant for high yield, and not for quality, for the bean is small 

 and approaches the inferior Calabacillo breed. Its value is 

 maintained by an amazing evenness and an uniform excellence 

 in curing. The way in which it is prepared for the market does 

 great credit to the planters. 



planter : They don't clay there, do they ? 



manufacturer : No ! and yet it is practically impossible to find a 

 mouldy bean in Grenada estates cacao. Evidently claying is 

 not a necessity in Grenada. 



planter : Ha ! ha ! By that I suppose you insinuate that it is not a 

 necessity in Trinidad, where the curing is also excellent. Or in 

 Venezuela ? What's the buyer's objection to claying ? 



manufacturer : Simply that claying is camouflage. Actually the 

 buyer doesn't mind so long as the clay is not too generously 

 used. He objects to paying for beans and getting clay. How- 

 ever, it's really too bad to colour up with clay the black 

 cacao from diseased pods ; it might deceive even experienced 

 brokers. 



