Latest / The Manufacturing Podcast with Fexingo: Factories, Supply Chains, and Industrial Business / How a Swiss Factory Is Making Chocolate from Cacao Pods
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, you know how we usually talk about factories that make something you can hold in your hand — steel, sneakers, wind turbine blades. Today I want to talk about a factory that makes something you can eat. Specifically, chocolate. Luna: Chocolate, huh? I'm listening. But I hope this isn't just a Willy Wonka episode. Lucas: It's better. There's a facility in Switzerland that's making chocolate from the entire cacao pod, not just the beans. And the numbers on waste are honestly a little shocking. Luna: Okay, I'm curious. How much cacao are we wasting? Lucas: So, when you crack open a cacao pod, you've got the beans, which are surrounded by a sweet, tangy pulp. And then the husk. Traditionally, chocolate makers use only the beans. The pulp and the husk — that's about 70 percent of the pod's weight — just gets discarded. Globally, that's millions of tons of organic material every year. Farmers often leave it to rot in the fields. Luna: Seventy percent? That's like buying a burger and throwing away the bun, the lettuce, and the tomato. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where a company called Koa comes in. They're a Swiss startup, and they've built a facility in Ghana that processes the whole pod. They extract the pulp, they use the husks for things like flour or natural fertilizer, and they ship the pulp-derived ingredients back to Switzerland, where a chocolate maker uses them to create a new kind of chocolate. Luna: Wait, so the chocolate itself is made from the pulp? Not the beans? Lucas: It's a blend. The chocolate still has cocoa solids and butter from the beans, but they're adding the pulp as a natural sweetener and flavoring. So they're reducing the amount of refined sugar, and they're giving farmers a second revenue stream from the same pod. Luna: That's clever. But how do you actually make chocolate from pulp? Is it the same process — fermentation, drying, roasting? Lucas: Good question. The pulp is actually what you'd find if you sucked on the fruit around the bean. It's like a tropical fruit — think mango or lychee. Koa pasteurizes it, concentrates it, and turns it into a syrup. They also make a cacao fruit juice. And they're working on a white chocolate where the pulp replaces milk solids entirely. That's a big deal because white chocolate traditionally needs milk powder, which is a high-carbon ingredient. Luna: So they're not just reducing waste, they're also cutting the carbon footprint of the chocolate itself. Lucas: Exactly. And this isn't just a lab experiment. Koa has been running this facility in Ghana since 2021, and they've partnered with a Swiss chocolate maker called Felchlin. They're selling the pulp products to other food companies too. I think the real story here is how a small factory in Switzerland is making this whole system work. Luna: So what's actually happening in that Swiss factory? Are they receiving the pulp and blending it with the beans? Lucas: Right. The Swiss side is where the final product comes together. They take the concentrated pulp, which comes in as a thick syrup, and they mix it into the chocolate mass. They've had to adjust the conching process — that's the slow kneading that develops flavor — because the pulp behaves differently than sugar. The moisture content is higher, so they've had to tweak the temperatures and timing. Luna: I imagine that wasn't a smooth process. You can't just swap out sugar for a fruit syrup and expect the same texture. Lucas: No, and that's the interesting engineering challenge. The factory had to install new dosing equipment to handle the viscous syrup. They also have to be careful about the water activity — too much moisture and you get a gritty texture or the chocolate seizes. But they've gotten it to work, and the result is a chocolate that has a fruity, acidic note without any added flavorings. Luna: Have you tasted it? I've seen their bars in a few specialty shops here in the city. Lucas: I actually ordered a couple of bars last week. There's a dark chocolate with the pulp, and it's surprisingly good. It's not like a chocolate orange or anything — it's a subtle tang, almost like a wild berry. And the sweetness feels softer, not as sharp as refined sugar. Luna: Okay, I might need to try that. But what about the economics? I mean, this is a business show. How does Koa make money from what was once waste? Lucas: So, Koa sells the pulp as an ingredient to food companies. And the key is that the pulp is a premium product — it's not cheap. A liter of cacao fruit juice can sell for more than the price of the beans. So they're creating a high-value product from something that was essentially free. They also sell the husk as a byproduct, but the real margin is in the pulp. Luna: But is the market big enough? I mean, how many companies want cacao pulp, really? Lucas: That's the scaling question. Right now, Koa is still a pilot operation. They process about one thousand metric tons of cacao pods per year. That's a drop in the bucket when you consider the global cacao harvest is around five million tons. But they've got big ambitions. They're planning to expand to other countries, and they've raised funding — I think around fourteen million dollars — to build more facilities. Luna: It's a classic chicken and egg problem. You need to prove the market exists before you can invest in a bigger plant. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where the Swiss factory plays a role. By showing that a commercial chocolate maker can use the pulp at scale, they're de-risking the investment. And they're also working with large food companies to develop new products — think cacao fruit spreads, jams, even alcoholic beverages. Luna: You mentioned farmers getting a second revenue stream. How much more are they making? Lucas: So, Koa pays farmers a premium for the whole pod, not just the beans. They say farmers can earn up to forty percent more income per hectare. That's substantial in places like Ghana, where the average cocoa farmer lives on less than two dollars a day. And by using the whole pod, they're also reducing the amount of waste that would otherwise attract pests and diseases. Luna: That's a real win-win. But I'm curious about the environmental side. Is producing this pulp energy-intensive? I'm thinking of the pasteurization and concentration. Lucas: It does take energy, but they've designed the Ghana facility to be as efficient as possible. They use waste heat from the diesel generators to dry the husks, and they've installed solar panels to cover part of the electricity load. The main energy cost is evaporating the water from the pulp to make the syrup, but they're working on membrane filtration tech that could cut that energy use by a lot. Luna: And what about the Swiss factory? Is it also trying to cut its energy footprint? Lucas: Yes, and that's part of the appeal. The chocolate made with pulp requires less sugar, and sugar production is water- and energy-intensive. So by replacing refined sugar with cacao pulp, the final chocolate has a lower carbon footprint. I've seen estimates that it could be up to thirty percent lower per kilo, though it's hard to get exact numbers. Luna: Thirty percent is a big number. If that's true, it could be a real selling point for food companies trying to meet sustainability targets. Lucas: And that's the hope. But there's a bigger question here: can this scale beyond a niche artisan product? The chocolate industry is huge, and most chocolate is made by a few multinationals. They're not going to switch their entire supply chain overnight. But if Koa can show that the process works and is profitable, it might force the big players to take notice. Luna: So is there any tension with the traditional cocoa industry? I mean, if you start using the pulp, does that affect the bean market? Lucas: Not really, because the beans are still essential. The pulp is an extra product. Actually, it could stabilize the market. By giving farmers another income stream, they're less vulnerable to price swings in the bean market. And if the pulp becomes valuable, farmers are incentivized to take better care of their trees, which could increase yields. Luna: Sounds like a recipe for a more resilient supply chain. But what's the one thing a listener could take away and tell a friend about? Lucas: I think the most surprising fact is that seventy percent of the cacao pod is discarded. That means for every chocolate bar we eat, we're throwing away more than twice its weight in perfectly good fruit. And there's a company that's figured out how to turn that into a profit while helping farmers and the planet. Luna: That is a solid piece of dinner-party trivia. On a personal note, I've been looking at how my own spending can support more sustainable food systems. I have to say, it's nice to see a factory that's not just about efficiency, but about rethinking the entire product lifecycle. Lucas: Yeah, and honestly, it's that kind of thinking that keeps me optimistic about manufacturing. Speaking of which, I want to take a quick honest moment here. You know, a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. Luna: It's true. We wouldn't be able to travel to these factories or dig into the numbers without that support. It keeps the show ad-free and allows us to go deep on topics like this. Lucas: And if you've gotten something out of these conversations — maybe a new way to think about your own supply chain or just a better understanding of how the world is made — that's the reason we do this. You can find the link in the show notes. So, back to cacao. Luna: So what's next for Koa? Are they planning to open more factories in other cocoa-producing countries? Lucas: They are. They've talked about expanding to Côte d'Ivoire and maybe Ecuador. But each country has its own challenges — different regulations, different infrastructure. And they need to build local partnerships to ensure a steady supply of pods. It's not just a matter of scaling the equipment; it's about building trust with farmers. Luna: That's the human element. I imagine it's a slow process. Lucas: Right. But they've already shown it can work in Ghana. And if they can replicate that success, it could genuinely reshape the cocoa industry. I think this is a story to keep an eye on. Luna: Definitely. And so now I have a craving for chocolate. Thanks for the episode, Lucas. Lucas: You're welcome. I'll bring some of those bars next time. For now, that's it for the Manufacturing Podcast. If you want to learn more about Koa, we'll put links in the show notes. And if you know a factory doing something crazy like this, drop us a line. We'd love to cover it.