3. Physical Characteristics

3.1. Consistency

It is very important that the quality of cocoa, both from bag to bag within a particular consignment, and between different consignments of the same mark, is consistent.

Since manufacturers aim to produce chocolate of consistent quality, a mark or origin which can be relied upon to supply beans of consistent quality will be valued more highly than one of heterogeneous quality. Consistency refers not only to the amount of defective beans but also the bean sizes and degree of fermentation.

To some extent consistency can be achieved by mixing beans, but all the cocoa being mixed should be of the same grade standard. It is not advisable to mix or blend poor quality cocoa with good quality cocoa to obtain a cocoa that just meets average minimum grade standards. While the value of the poor cocoa can be increased in this way, the value of the good cocoa is correspondingly reduced and future demand for that cocoa will diminish.

Mainstream cocoas from sources with a reputation for supplying cocoas where the quality can often very close to the prescribed Grade 1 standards tend to sell at a discount to mainstream cocoas which are consistently well within the standards. Cocoa which is very near to the prescribed Grade 1 standards may contain as many as 8 or 9% defective beans and this cocoa is unsuitable for good quality chocolate. The mixing or blending at origin of cocoas of different grades should not be practised.