4. Quality Control

The quality of the cocoa beans in the bags must be checked before the cocoa is sold. This process is a crucial one as it can considerably affect the final price paid to the farmer. 

At this stage, the cocoa beans must fulfil certain criteria agreed in the contract, including the following: the cocoa must be properly fermented and dried; the cocoa must be free from any foreign odours; the beans must comply with limits in contents of slaty, flat, clusters, broken, mouldy, insect-damage, foreign matter and germinated beans; the cocoa must conform to the required moisture level; and there have to be a number of cocoa beans per unit weight (100 or 1000 grammes) (See Appendix A).

In many cocoa growing countries, quality control is currently performed by the officials of cooperatives and local buyers, rather than by the farmers themselves.

However, farmers who are enabled to take on more responsibility for quality control and actively involved in marketing their cocoa are key to modern sustainable production. 

Farmers who are aware of quality standards and well-informed on GAP will be better able to take appropriate action to address any quality deficiencies in their cocoa, or indeed any measures needed to meet the more stringent requirements for premium products, in order to command better marketing opportunities.