Juicy Beans

Kumasi and RokitScience contribute to increasing the ownership and income of cocoa farmers, with an emphasis on women. Kumasi has a successful history of developing and marketing cocoa juice, which aims to keep as much income as possible with the farmer. RokitScience has been involved in the creation of the Rokbar: a "bean to bar" empowering chocolate bar that is marketed and made entirely by women.
Kumasi and RokitScience started setting up a cocoa-fruit-lab at the cocoa-cooperative COVIMA in early 2021 in Ivory-Coast, in collaboration with Beyond Beans Foundation/ETG and Döhler and financially supported by the Sustainable-Trade-Initiative (IDH). The goal is to support the cooperative, which is led by women, with the establishment of circular cocoa juice and chocolate production and in this way increase the income of the members of the cooperative.
The cocoa pod contains cocoa beans embedded in cocoa pulp. This pulp is sweet and juicy and partly needed for cocoa bean fermentation for flavor development. Residual pulp can be used for new products like drinks, marmalades and more.
The collaboration in the cocoa fruit lab created momentum to try-out a more circular approach whereby the extraction of juice was linked to a shorter fermentation period of the beans, influencing quality features of both the beans and potentially the chocolate. However, to optimize the production of juicy beans further and find a market for this (and potentially other) products requires further testing and development of a value proposition and marketing strategy.
The main question of Kumasi and RokitScience at Hanzehogeschool Groningen and NHLStenden Hogeschool Amsterdam is: What is the effect on the quality of beans and chocolate if fermented after the extraction of juice? How can this be optimized: comparing ‘cocoa of excellence’ fermentation and drying to traditional post-harvest practices and how can we tell the world?

Cocoa is a vital global agricultural commodity, with an annual production of 5.04 million tonnes (ICCO,
2022/2023). West Africa accounts for about 70% of global output, led by Côte d’Ivoire (43%) and Ghana
(19%). The sector is largely driven by small-scale farmers and plays a key role in regional sustainability,
economic stability, and poverty reduction.
The Juicy Beans project, a collaboration between Kumasi Drinks, Cross Cultural Bridges, researcher Anna
Laven, and the Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences Hanze and NHL Stenden, aims to transform cocoa
bean residues into new, value-added products that increase farmer income. In partnership with the Ivorian
cocoa cooperative COVIMA, the project developed an innovative fermentation process that allows farmers to
produce both high-quality fermented cocoa beans and the residual cocoa pulp, the latter being used for the
refreshing drink Kumasi.
Through active knowledge exchange between COVIMA’s laboratories and Hanze University, both cocoa pulp
juice and bean quality were significantly improved. Results indicate that linking juice extraction to a shorter
fermentation time can enhance both bean and chocolate quality. Bean quality was evaluated by an expert
panel following Cocoa of Excellence methods, confirming that the new fermentation process yields superior
beans. Handcrafted chocolate bars produced from these beans were tested by a consumer panel, which
also reported improved taste and aroma.
Students collaborated with Kumasi to develop a targeted social media marketing strategy to communicate
the social, economic, and ecological benefits of the new process. The project’s outcomes, the Kumasi drink
and bean-to-bar chocolate, were showcased at the 2024 SIA Conference and shared with visitors in the
conference goody bag.
In conclusion, the Juicy Beans project introduced an innovative fermentation process that improves cocoa
bean and chocolate quality while enhancing the raw material for Kumasi drink production. Through
multimedia storytelling created by students, the project demonstrates how collaboration, innovation, and
circular economy principles can empower smallholder farmers and drive sustainable transformation in the
cocoa sector.