For more than 60 years, the continuous research of three generations of scientific researchers has been implemented in Hainan. Coco is not only unique in China, but also attracts the attention of overseas markets. It has both production value and ornamental value, and its future prospects are "sweet". It is worth looking forward to with Hainan's unfinished story.
▶▷ The world map of Hainan Cocoa
On October 18, the third China Cocoa Culture Festival and Cocoa Industry Summit Forum with the theme of "Diverable Cocoa, Diversified Life" was held at Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden in Wanning, Hainan. At the Cultural Festival, cocoa produced in Hainan has become the "new favorite" in the industry.
million cocoa tree in Ningxinglong Tropical Botanical Garden. Hainan Daily reporter Li Tianping Photo
"When the first cultural festival was held in 2019, most of the people who came were seed researchers and growers. The second session was many marketers, and the third session this year, many high-quality customers came. Not only did internationally renowned cocoa companies contact us, but some chocolate companies in Beijing, Shanghai and other places in China also contacted us. My phone kept ringing these two days, and everyone was chasing us to order our cocoa beans." On October 22, Cocoa Research Institute of Spice Beverages, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences Li Fupeng, director of the center, happily told the reporter of Hainan Daily , "The orders we received are three to five times our production capacity!"
"As the main R&D center and production base of cocoa in China, Hainan has the ability to provide technical support for the entire industrial chain for the large-scale development of the cocoa industry after more than 60 years of continuous research by scientific and technological workers." He introduced that Hainan's annual cocoa bean production is only about 10 tons, which is far from meeting the needs of domestic and foreign markets.
The "foreign" and "pretty" of cocoa From the "noble" in drinks to the popular beverages around the world, the history and culture of cocoa has lasted for nearly four thousand years
cocoa is very "famous" and "people-friendly". Most of the chocolates, candies and pastries that people like to eat include cocoa, which is an important ingredient. In the catering industry, cocoa is one of the three major beverages in the world known as tea and coffee.
What is little known is that from the Western "noble" in drinks to common drinks that are popular all over the world, it took nearly four thousand years to enter the daily life of the people.
According to verifiable records, the history of cocoa being consumed by humans can be traced back to the Olmek civilization period from 1900 BC to 1500 BC. Archaeologists found traces of cocoa alkali in the clay jar fragments from that period, and cocoa alkali only exists in cocoa beans. A large number of unearthed Mayan civilization period containers proved that the Central American aristocratic class at that time drank cocoa.
What is less well known is that cocoa beans, that is, cocoa seeds, are rich in active ingredients such as cocoa butter , cocoa alkali, polyphenol , flavonoids, and have health care effects such as improving heart, kidney, and intestinal functions.
At present, China's annual per capita consumption of chocolate is less than 0.1 kg, less than 10% of the annual per capita consumption of Western countries.
"Cocoa beans are relatively in short supply in the market. A considerable part of the chocolate you eat in China may be the generation cocoa butter products, not the real cocoa butter products." Li Fupeng told a reporter from Hainan Daily.
Hainan and Coco have a special fate. Hainan Island is a representative cocoa cultivation area in China. At the Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden, an internet celebrity "check-in" place in Hainan, many tourists travel thousands of miles just to see the elegant posture of the cocoa tree. Many people tasted the pulp of fresh cocoa fruits for the first time here.
Cocoa pulp. Photo provided by the interviewee
It is worth mentioning that in 2004, the State Post Bureau issued the "New Look of Overseas Chinese Hometown" series of stamps. Xinglong stood out from 84 overseas Chinese farms across the country and selected the stamp series known as the "national business card". One of the stamps is the rising cocoa tree, and cocoa fruit is located in a prominent position on the stamp. Cocoa has thus become a representative plant of prosperity.
Hainan cocoa is unique in China. Hainan cocoa planting is responsible for the important task of developing and strengthening China's cocoa industry
Hainan Island is located between 18°10′-20°10′ north latitude and is the only tropical island province in China.In 1954, overseas Chinese returning from Southeast Asia brought a small amount of cocoa seeds back to their new home - Wanning Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm in the southeast of Hainan Island, starting a new journey of cocoa in China. "The temperature for cocoa to grow is between 24℃ and 26℃, while the annual average temperature in Xinglong is exactly around 24℃." Zhang Jixiang, the first generation scientific researcher at the Xinglong Experimental Station of the South China Tropical Crop Research Institute (the predecessor of the Institute of Spice Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences), said that there are accidental and inevitable factors in the settlement of cocoa in Xinglong.
According to data records, in 1956, because Xinglong cocoa trees were well planted, the Baoting Breeding Station and Hainan Botanical Garden (now Wanning Dongling Farm) successively tried to plant cocoa trees. After its establishment in 1957, the Xinglong Experimental Station of the South China Tropical Crop Research Institute continued to pay attention to the cocoa planting situation in Xinglong, and conducted scientific research projects in 1960, trying to introduce cocoa on a wasteland, and conducting field observations and research on the growth habits of cocoa. For more than 60 years, Hainan's scientific researchers have been working hard to contribute to the development of China's cocoa industry.
From 1960 to the present, three generations of scientific researchers have devoted themselves and worked diligently to conduct research on Cocoa. The first generation of scientific researchers represented by Zhang Jixiang has figured out the growth habits of cocoa and its requirements for climate and environment, as well as basic field management technology; the second generation of scientific researchers represented by Wang Qinghuang , Lai Jianxiong, and Song Yinghui have conducted more than 30 years of research on the high-yield cultivation technology of cocoa, and selected China's first high-yield and cold-resistant cocoa variety "Red Yin No. 4" with intellectual property rights; the third generation of scientific researchers represented by Li Fupeng and Qin Xiaowei have transformed the traditional real-life seedling model into grafting breeding and grafting of old trees, providing technical support for the promotion of new cocoa varieties and the sustainable development of the cocoa industry.
"The maximum cocoa planting area in Hainan reaches more than 10,000 acres, and the maximum cocoa planting area of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan has about 20 acres, and the Taiwan region maintains about 2,000 acres of planting. Therefore, Hainan's cocoa planting is unique in China, and Hainan shoulders the important task of developing and strengthening China's cocoa industry." Li Fupeng said.
Globalization has profoundly changed the human lifestyle and has also profoundly changed the path of scientific research. Researchers from the Institute of Spice Beverages, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, carry out cocoa research and exchanges around the world. In 10 years, they collected and preserved various germplasm resources from more than 20 countries including Ecuador , Costa Rica , Brazil , Côte d'Ivoire , Sri Lanka, Malaysia , Indonesia , Fiji , etc. Currently, they have more than 500 cocoa resources preserved in the resource garden, and the germplasm resources are ranked third in Asia and Oceania , and have introduced two wild species such as large flower cocoa and two-color cocoa for the first time. They study both varieties with production value and ornamental value.
cocoa, an ever-expanding world map. Looking around the world, cocoa cultivation has spread to Europe, Asia and Africa, and nearly 60 countries and regions. According to historical records, in the Age of Discovery, Europeans discovered the nutritional and medicinal value of cocoa, and the market demand for cocoa has continued to increase. As a species, cocoa began to migrate around the world as the colonists expanded.
16th century, the Spanish and Portuguese introduced cocoa into their colonies to meet the growing demand for cocoa. Spaniard leads cocoa to Trinidad and Tobago , Honduras , Cuba , Venezuela, Colombia. The Portuguese led cocoa to Brazil.
17th century, the French saw the prospect of growing cocoa in the Caribbean colonies, leading cocoa to Dominican Republic and Grenada . Spain leads cocoa to Philippines , Indonesia and Peru .
18th century, the British and Dutch brought cocoa to Asia, and countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia began the history of growing cocoa. In the 19th century, the Portuguese brought cocoa to Africa, and then other colonial countries followed suit.
cocoa entered China, and it first started in Taiwan in 1922.However, cocoa has high requirements for temperature and other conditions and is only suitable for growing between 20° north and south latitudes. Due to climate factors, Taiwan has only planted a small number of cocoa trees in the past hundred years.
Nowadays, cocoa has been planted almost everywhere near the equator suitable for cocoa growth. Cocoa is distributed in nearly 60 countries and regions in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The main producers include Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, , Ecuador, Cameroon, , Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Dominican.
According to statistics from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), the global cocoa harvest area in the 2019/2020 harvest season reached more than 12 million hectares, with a total output of more than 5.5 million tons, of which Africa accounts for 76.4%, the Americas accounts for 15.6%, and the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 8.0%. Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer with a production of 2.02 million tons, and Ghana is the second largest producer with a production of 970,000 tons.
Hainan cocoa, the "dear" of the global market If 15% of Hainan's economic forest planting cocoa can add more than 2.3 billion yuan per year
"Belgians use amazing to describe the taste of Hainan cocoa. The chocolate they produce with Hainan cocoa beans is very popular in the European market. Judging from the feedback we have received, the cocoa beans produced in Hainan are considered to have a unique flavor and a taste of nuts and berries, which are suitable for the production of personalized cocoa products." Li Fupeng said.
cocoa beans. Hainan Daily reporter Li Tianping photographed
It is understood that my country imports about 150,000 tons of cocoa beans and cocoa products annually, and the scale of China's chocolate market is growing at an average annual rate of 10% to 15%, with consumption potential as high as 20 billion yuan.
"The supply of cocoa beans produced in Hainan is in short supply." Li Fupeng said that the cocoa beans produced in Hainan achieved their first export last year, exporting to Belgium , with an export price of 50 yuan per kilogram. "In the past two days, Belgian companies have been urging us to ask for our cocoa beans, but we have no beans available." Although Hainan exports cocoa beans in small quantities, it has attracted the attention of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the world's largest cocoa production countries.
In the world, cocoa has three major strains: FORASTERO Frastro (80% of the output), CRIOLLO CRIOR (5% of the output), and TRINOTARIO Trinidario (15% of the output). Among them, frastro has a high yield, bitter and sour taste, and a single flavor, which is mostly used to make commercial chocolates; criolo has a delicate taste, elegant flavor and rich layers, with a floral and fruity aroma, but a low yield; Trinidalio is a hybrid variety of the former two, which is both elegant in flavor and higher in yield than the latter. Hainan's cocoa belongs to the Trinidad Rio product line, and it is difficult to compare with the main cocoa producing countries, and it is more suitable for the development of high-quality cocoa.
"The area of economic forests such as rubber, coconut tree , betel nut in Hainan Province exceeds 10 million mu. If 15% of the economic forests are planted between economic forests, the annual output of cocoa can reach 120,000 tons, and the annual agricultural output value can be more than 2.3 billion yuan, with broad development prospects." Li Fupeng said.
is a landmark tree species in tropical areas. It will present a typical "old stem blooming and bear fruit" landscape of tropical plant , which is of great scientific ornamental value. From the perspective of building shared farms and developing tourism, growing cocoa is also of great benefit to Hainan.
cocoa flower. Photo provided by the interviewee
Last year, a chocolate production line of Hainan Xingke Tropical Crop Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., a high-tech enterprise affiliated to the Institute of Spice Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences was launched. "In recent years, the Institute of Fragrance Beverages, jointly with relevant scientific and educational units and enterprises to carry out scientific and technological research on the entire industrial chain around the needs of the development of the cocoa industry, and has already had a certain technical reserve. It can provide excellent cocoa varieties, seedling breeding technology and standardized planting technology, and has developed more than 10 products such as chocolate, cocoa coconut milk, cocoa coffee with independent intellectual property rights. We believe that the time for Hainan to develop the cocoa industry on a large scale is ripe." Li Fupeng said.
The main cocoa production areas in the world (country and region)
Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Ecuador, Cameroon, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Dominican
Hainan cocoa planting area layout
advantage zone: 0 Ning , Qionghai , Baoting, Lingshui
suitable zone: Sanya, Danzhou , Ledong, Dongfang, zhishan , Ding'an , Wenchang
times suitable areas: Haikou, Chengmai, Linggao and other cities and counties
The difference between cocoa beans and coffee beans
Coffee beans are smooth on the surface and darker in color. Almost every coffee bean of the same variety has the same size, and there is a groove in the middle of the beans; in comparison, the surface of cocoa beans is not too smooth, the color is lighter, and the size is not very consistent
▶▷ Cocoa: There are many wonderful things in tropical trees
Cocoa is a tropical plant of the Mallow family, mainly distributed between 20° north and south latitudes. This tree originally lived in the Amazon rainforest in South America and later moved to Central America. From the 16th to the 17th centuries, colonists from Europe brought back cocoa seeds from the Americas, and cocoa trees began to be tried worldwide as a cash crop.
As a typical tropical plant, the cocoa tree has a unique appearance and a high "appearance". Although it is a tree, it will not grow into a towering tree. It is generally between 4 meters and 7.5 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 30 cm to 40 cm. The fruit is larger than an adult's fist. If you want to ask what shape and color of the fruit of the cocoa tree is, this question is really hard to answer. Due to the different varieties of trees, fresh cocoa fruits have several shapes such as near-circular, elliptical, obovate, spindle, etc. When they are not mature, they will be blue-white, green, dark green, red-green, red, purple, etc., and will tend to be orange-yellow and yellow when they are immature.
The fruits produced by the cocoa tree are not small in size, but the flowers are very petite. At first glance, many people think that it is a bud that just emerged. The cocoa flower is cymium , consisting of 5 sepals and 5 petals. The petals are yellow, pink, purple-red, etc.
The leaves of the cocoa tree are long and oval, and the tender leaves are the same as flowers and fruits. They are of various colors, and can be light green, light brown, pink or purple-red. The mature leaves will turn dark green. The length of cocoa leaves is generally between 7 cm and 30 cm, and the longest is 50 cm. What is very interesting is that cocoa leaves can grow on branches for a long time and will not fall easily. Some leaves will not leave their branches after a whole year, which is very "nostalgic".
In addition to the rich colors of flowers, leaves and fruits, another great wonder of cocoa trees is "old stems bloom and bear fruit." As we all know, most plants have flowers on their branches. The branches of the plant blooming are called flower branches, and the branches are beautiful when the flowers bloom, which can be described as "the flowers are shining". But in tropical areas, some plants tend to take the unusual path and bloom on the trunk or main branches, such as jackfruit, banyan, star fruit, cocoa, etc. This phenomenon of flowers and fruit growing on the trunk and main branches is called "old stems bloom and bear fruit."
Cocoa fruit is a pod, also known as "uncracked drupe ". After ripening and drying, it is as hard as wood, and it takes some effort to break it apart. After breaking it apart, reveal the neatly arranged cocoa seeds, and then beans. Many people don’t know that the pulp of cocoa fresh fruit is edible, and its taste is sweet, a bit like the pulp of mangosteen .
Cocoa trees are not common in China. After the Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden opened in 1997, a group of tourists rushed to the Botanical Garden to watch the cocoa trees. For a time, the cocoa forest became a landscape. In order to meet tourists' needs for taste, the Botanical Garden once sold fresh cocoa fruits as tourism products. During peak tourism periods, 1,000 can be sold a day.
▶▷ The relay of the third generation of "Cocoa people"
From the first cocoa seed brought back to Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm , to the opening of the first cocoa nursery, and then to the development of becoming a representative cocoa planting area in China, Hainan's "Cocoa people" have been going on for 67 years in this uneven dream-chasing road.After 67 years of hardships and difficulties, three generations of scientific researchers have taken root and started their own businesses from scratch, devoted themselves to technological research, just to build Hainan into a global high-quality cocoa origin, just to let Chinese cocoa go further.
First generation: Touching habits
Observation record of wind and rain
Find out the habit of cocoa growth
"At that time, the returned overseas Chinese brought back the cocoa tree planted by seeds, which looked very good, proving that the cocoa tree is very suitable for growing in Xinglong. We study Xinglong cocoa tree and observe it every day." Although more than 60 years have passed, Zhang Jixiang, an 89-year-old professor, still remembers the scene of studying cocoa that year.
Hainan's first generation cocoa researcher Zhang Jixiang is observing the growth of cocoa.
In 1958, Zhang Jixiang went to the Xinglong Experimental Station of South China Tropical Crops (the predecessor of the Institute of Spice and Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, hereinafter referred to as Xinglong Experimental Station). As soon as she entered the experimental station, she couldn't wait to go to Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm to see the cocoa trees.
"At that time, in order to fill the gap in the national tropical crop research field, we began to study the beverage crop cocoa," she said.
According to data records, in 1956, because Xinglong cocoa trees were well planted, the Baoting Breeding Station and Hainan Botanical Garden (now Dongling Farm in Wanning City) successively tried to plant cocoa. In 1960, Xinglong Experimental Station introduced cocoa, conducted scientific research projects, and began to study cocoa growth habits.
"At that time, cocoa fruits were a rare treasure. In order to grow cocoa, Hainan introduced 10 baskets of cocoa fruits from abroad in 1960, with 100 fresh cocoa fruits in each basket. Two of them were given to us. I went to Danzhou to receive this batch of cocoa fruits." Zhang Jixiang recalled that it was January and the weather was very cold, and this batch of cocoa fruits needed to be processed immediately, otherwise it would lose its ability to germinate. South China Tropical Crop College immediately mobilized cadres and staff to break the shell and remove the cocoa seeds. Use rice bran to rub off the white flesh wrapped in the seeds bit by bit, wash it clean, and then put it in the nursery. "The outdoor temperature is low at night, so we raise a bonfire around the nursery to keep the cocoa seeds that have just entered the nursery and stay awake all night," she said.
This batch of cocoa seedlings grew up and were assigned to Ledong, Baoting, Sanya and other places to plant. Zhang Jixiang brought some of them back to Xinglong Testing Station for trial planting. At that time, there were no nutritional bags to protect the roots of cocoa seedlings, and everyone didn’t know much about cocoa growth habits, so the survival rate of this batch of seedlings was not very high, but some of them survived tenaciously. The cocoa trees in the "Old Cocoa Garden" of Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden were planted at that time.
Decades passed by, and the black hair turned gray. One thing that the first generation of cocoa researchers such as Zhang Jixiang did throughout their lives was to study how cocoa took root and grew well in Hainan. In the 1960s and 1970s, Hainan's basic scientific research conditions were very poor. There were only 15 cocoa germplasm resources that could be obtained at Xinglong Experimental Station, and scientific researchers' observation of cocoa could basically be carried out in the fields.
Zhang Jixiang and other researchers conducted field observations and records day after day, and took 20 or 30 years to figure out how long it takes for cocoa seedlings to bloom and bear fruit, and the requirements for the environment and meteorological growth of cocoa tree. They also studied cocoa seedling technology such as cuttings, "air pressure strips", bud joints, as well as cocoa management technologies such as fertilization, shaping, and pruning, laying the foundation for later scientific research work.
Second generation: Grab the high yield
R&D high yield cultivation technology
"Hot No. 4" made a big splash
1983 Lai Jianxiong graduated from South China Agricultural University , and in 1984 Wang Qinghuang graduated from South China Tropical Crops College. They successively entered Xinglong Experimental Station to work. Lai Jianxiong later served as the director of the Cocoa Research Center of the Institute of Spice Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Fragrance Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences). Wang Qinghuang later served as director of the Institute of Fragrance Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences and president of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences. Cocoa researchers represented by them have done one thing - developing cocoa high-yield cultivation techniques.
Hainan's second-generation cocoa researcher Lai Jianxiong is observing the occurrence of cocoa pests.
Optimization of breeding cocoa varieties is a long process."The cocoa has been planted for three years before it blooms and bears fruits. Then select ones with good phenotype, stable traits and high yields for regional experiments. The test plants will be planted in three cities and counties for three consecutive years for observation and research. A round of experiments took five or six years to obtain first-hand data. Then a small-scale productive planting test will be conducted to see if this variety can be promoted on a large scale." Lai Jianxiong introduced.
Under the leadership of Wang Qinghuang, the Institute of Fragrant Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Hot Sciences has been used for 31 years from the launch of research on cocoa high-yield cultivation technology in 1984 to the selection and breeding of China's first cocoa variety with intellectual property rights in 2015. Fortunately, "Retin No. 4" has the characteristics of high yield and cold resistance. Its yield is 3.5 times the average cocoa yield in the world, and it shows widespread adaptability. It can be promoted and planted throughout Hainan Island and some areas in Yunnan.
Hainan's second-generation cocoa researcher Wang Qinghuang is observing the development status of cocoa fruits.
Since the 1980s, Wang Qinghuang's team has also carried out cocoa tree planting experiments to study intercropping and intercropping of cocoa plants in coconut forests and betel nut fields. As these technologies mature, some places in eastern and southern Hainan Island began to promote the cultivation of cocoa.
Lai Jianxiong witnessed the peaks and troughs of Hainan's cocoa industry development: With the implementation of the "Million-Acre Coconut Forest Project", by around 2002, the cocoa planting area in Hainan reached more than 10,000 acres, and all cities and counties such as Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Lingshui, Baoting, Ledong, Sanya, and Wuzhishan were planted. But the good times did not last long. A few years later, due to the inadequate consumption level of people at that time, and the incomplete deep processing system, cocoa beans had no sales. Many farmers cut off cocoa trees, and the cocoa planting area in the province quickly shrank to about 2,000 acres.
"At that time, scientific research was mostly pure scientific research and was not linked to the market. In the face of loss, we deeply realized that those who do agriculture should solve their worries for farmers." Lai Jianxiong said. Since then, the researchers from the Institute of Fragrance Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences have changed the previous work model of spending most of their energy on the front end of the cocoa industry chain - the planting link, and have begun to advance into the field of deep processing.
The new generation: Brand
Looking at the global docking market
Create a cocoa origin brand
2012, Li Fupeng, a post-80s generation, graduated from , Huazhong Agricultural University and joined the Institute of Fragrance Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Hot Sciences. Faced with the province's only 2,000 acres of cocoa planting area, he and other new generation of scientific researchers were not discouraged or slackened. They looked for new directions to continue to carry out technical research. "Seniors don't give up, we must stick to it. This is a historical responsibility!" said Li Fupeng.
A new generation of cocoa scientific researcher Li Fupeng is carrying out cocoa hybrid breeding work.
The older generation of scientific researchers planted a large area of lush old cocoa trees in Xinglong Tropical Botanical Garden, including many excellent varieties. On this basis, a new generation of scientific researchers such as Li Fupeng continues to develop cocoa seedling breeding technology, and breed in different directions according to the characteristics of the seeds themselves, regional characteristics and market demand. They transformed the traditional real seedling model into grafting breeding and grafting and replacing the grafting of grown trees, providing technical support for the promotion of new cocoa varieties and the accelerated development of the cocoa industry.
They systematically carried out identification and evaluation of botanical traits, agronomic traits, quality traits, and resistance traits of cocoa core germplasm resources, and obtained more than 5,200 valuable data. They studied and formulated a complete technical system for cocoa germplasm resource description and evaluation, and systematically evaluated and screened out 25 excellent germplasm. Following the "Re-in No. 4", they successively selected and bred 12 excellent varieties including "Xiangke No. 16".
Qin Xiaowei, who graduated from Northwest A&F University , actively does a good job in collecting, preserving, appraisal and evaluation of cocoa germplasm resources. His paper on the identification and evaluation of cocoa germplasm resources attracted the attention of the Belgian Pier Marcolini chocolate brand team, which indirectly contributed to the first export of cocoa beans from Hainan from origin overseas.
Li Fupeng has taken over as the director of the Cocoa Research Center of the Institute of Fragrance Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences since 2020, and has shouldered the important task of China's cocoa industry development.
"Our generation must seize the opportunity!" Li Fupeng said that since 2019, the Institute of Fragrant Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences has held a cocoa culture festival every year, connecting the scientific research end, the planting end and the market end through the festival, looking at the world and closely following market demand, conducting technology updates and product research and development, and creating a Hainan cocoa origin brand.
pictures are provided by the Coco Research Center of the Institute of Fragrance Drinks of the Chinese Academy of Hot Sciences
▶▷ The founder of Ke Kehu founded high-quality chocolate raw materials in Hainan - "Question" met Hainan beans
Perhaps, in many people's impression, chocolate is a sweet but soulless industrial product. At present, this stereotyped impression label is slowly changing with the emergence of the increasingly popular fine chocolate from origin (Bean to Bar) - a flavor with origin that can bring an interesting "travel" to your taste buds.
On October 18, the 3rd China Cocoa Culture Festival and Cocoa Industry Summit Forum were held in Xinglong, Wanning. On the forum, Wang Ye, the founder of the high-quality original bean chocolate brand KESSHō Ke Kehu, and her husband Mark, shared their love with Hainan Coco with everyone.
Wang and Mark.
Wang Ye graduated from the Department of Biology at Tsinghua University, and Mark graduated from the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University in the United States. What kind of opportunity did this "academic couple" immerse in the world of cocoa? What's the difference between the Hainan cocoa origin chocolate made by them? A reporter from Hainan Daily conducted an exclusive interview with the couple.
Wang Ye is making desserts.
Starting from scratch, exploring the tip of the tongue
"Let the world learn more about China through chocolate"
The king in front of him, wearing black-framed glasses, his voice soft and thin when he speaks, but his thin body contains great energy.
12 years ago, after graduating from university, Wang Ye became business analyst , a strategic consulting company , and then crossed the border into the baking industry. In 2019, she and her husband founded the fine chocolate brand KESSHō Ke Kehu. She thinks she is just a "primary school student" in the chocolate industry. Although she has encountered many unpredictable difficulties, she has been exploring the uniqueness of the chocolate world.
Ke Kehu single origin chocolate product set (from left to right are Hainan, Ghana, Tanzania , Peru).
Wang Ye recalled her first experience of eating raw bean chocolate from the origin: it was the spring of 2017. In the small town of Mysore in southern India, she found a piece of chocolate wrapped in coconut shell fiber recycled paper in a treasure boutique supermarket. The waiter in
store enthusiastically introduced in English: "This piece of chocolate uses local Indian cocoa fruit, which is a very high-end and unique dark chocolate."
Wang Ye has "check in" at several well-known chocolate shops in Belgium and France. When he heard the clerk introduce Indian chocolate like this, he was very curious. After taking it apart, she was stunned: "The bright acidity, such as jackfruit, passion fruit, and Yunnan sour horns, bloomed at the base of the tongue, and the next thing was the slightly bitter sweetness after the caramel was burned. It was hard to believe that this was a piece of dark chocolate without any flavor additives."
Enjoying the perfect taste, Wang Ye met the founder of this chocolate shop, a pair of exotic couples from South Africa and the United Kingdom who chose to settle in India. This is her first time in-depth understanding of raw bean chocolate from the origin without additives.
From then on, Wang Ye has gained a new understanding of chocolate flavor. In the following year, Wang Ye studied professional knowledge such as baking, pastry and chocolate in Tokyo, Japan, and visited excellent local high-quality original bean chocolate brand companies.
"What impressed me was not only the exploration of flavor, but also the high standards of quality, but more importantly, they used chocolate products to elegantly convey the local culture they had been influenced by since childhood." Wang said.
Then, Wang and Mark came up with an idea: "If we could create the internationally renowned chocolate brand of Made In China, so that the world can learn more about China through a piece of chocolate, how great would it be!" In 2018, they tried to make fine chocolates from scratch.
was amazed by Hainan Cocoa
"Tasting Hainan Cocoa is like a journey full of adventures"
Mark was born in an American baking family and learned to make pastry with his grandma since he was a child. At the beginning, he was full of confidence in his new career.
However, "ideals are full, but reality is a bit skinny." It took them more than 2 years from importing cocoa beans, purchasing equipment to researching and making methods.
In early 2018, when Wang Ye and Mark first purchased cocoa bean samples through overseas boutique cocoa bean sample suppliers, they lost a payment for the goods because they did not understand the whitelist regulations for imported cocoa beans.
Coincidentally, one of Mark's alumni is the owner of the cocoa estate. Mark ordered 4 tons of cocoa beans by contacting him. Subsequently, the company was granted the qualifications for import and export trade, and gradually understood the various requirements for production layout.
cocoa beans were bought, but because of their inexperience, they did not store the cocoa beans in time, resulting in moldy and worms in many beans.
"Later we learned that the space conditions for storing cocoa beans are very high. The humidity in the warehouse must be below 50%, and there are few suitable venues." Wang Ye said that the impact of air humidity on the flavor of fine cocoa beans is almost irreversible, so it is best to build and manage the warehouse itself. If there are really no conditions, you can consider sealing frozen cocoa beans, but be careful to prevent moisture during the thawing process.
They did not choose to give up in the face of difficulties and challenges. In the past three years, the KESSHō Kekehu brand has won 8 medals in Asia-Pacific and international competitions. The winning products cover a variety of , raw , colorful double-layer sandwich chocolate, raw bean chocolate cubes, etc.
Kekehu Hainan origin is hot. All pictures are provided by the respondents
During the search for high-quality cocoa raw materials, Wang Ye and Mark discovered Hainan cocoa. In the Kekehu store in Shanghai, hot chocolate drinks and cake sets made from cocoa produced in Wanning Xinglong attracted many young consumers to taste it.
Hainan is the main cocoa production area in China and is also a blessed place for this "school couple". "I tasted Hainan cocoa for the first time and found it amazing, a bit like blueberry , raspberry, and nuts. Tasting Hainan cocoa feels like starting a journey full of adventures." Mark commented on the flavor of Hainan cocoa this way.
Wang Ye said that through repeated explorations, the differences in cocoa flavors are actually similar to the diversity of the world. It is precisely because of these differences that they bring people a rich experience.
"Put" Hainan cocoa into the world
Looking forward to using Hainan cocoa to make more interesting chocolate
Mark and Wang Ye came to Wanning to attend the forum this time, and actually brought a "small task": inspect the cocoa planting and fermentation technology in Hainan, and then purchase some Hainan cocoa to go back.
Liao Zirong, director of the Hainan Tropical Agriculture International Technology Transfer Center, introduced that Hainan Island is located in a suitable area for cocoa cultivation, and climatic conditions are very conducive to the growth of cocoa. At present, the Institute of Spice and Beverages of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences has preserved more than 500 cocoa germplasm resources and established a specialized garden for cocoa germplasm resources. After product ratio, regional and productive experiments, the team selected and bred my country's first cocoa variety with intellectual property rights - "Red Essence No. 4".
Is a cocoa bean of high quality and what are the evaluation criteria? Liao Zirong introduced that the evaluation criteria for cocoa beans include fat content, polyphenol content, ratio of cocoa alkali and caffeine, as well as flavor characteristics, etc. "Hainan cocoa flavor is unique. In recent years, foreign fine chocolate manufacturers have increased their enthusiasm for Hainan cocoa procurement. Last year, 500 kilograms of cocoa beans produced by Hainan Xingke Tropical Crop Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. were exported to Belgium. Hainan cocoa industry is developing towards high-end quality products!"
"Looking forward in the next year, what we most look forward to is to use cocoa produced from Hainan to make more interesting chocolate and chocolate products." Mark said that they hope to discover more high-quality local food raw materials, reduce carbon emissions brought by transportation, and promote the more efficient development of my country's fine agriculture."I hope to 'install Hainan Cocoa' into' the world so that the world can better understand Hainan's taste and Chinese taste."
Wang Ye said: "Cocoa has opened up our pursuit of life exploration in our hearts. Life is indefinite, and the mouth is the world."
Original title: The legend of Cocoa From accidental settlement to becoming famous all over the world, Hainan Cocoa is "proud" and sweet
