Grading Cocoa | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 110

By Clay Gordon | | 7 min read
Grading Cocoa | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 110
Original photo Sara Gomes / Unsplash.

Episode 110 explores how cocoa quality is evaluated and expressed. [ Updated ]

When (and Where) to Watch

🗓️
The stream airs LIVE at 11:00 PDT/MST on Tuesday, April 8th, 2025. Links below to watch LIVE and to view the archived episode.
Grading Cocoa | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 110
Episode 110 OverviewThis episode features an exploration of how cocoa beans are graded (evaluated) and how the grading is expressed. The inspiration for this…
YouTube

Click on this (shareable) link to watch on YouTube. Please subscribe (free!) to the @PodSaveChocolate YouTube channel, like this video, comment, and share this episode to help grow the #PSC community.

#lavidacocoa #thechocolatelife #cacao #cocoa #cacau #chocolate… | Clay Gordon
Episode 110 Overview This episode features an exploration of how cocoa beans are graded (evaluated) and how the grading is expressed. The inspiration for this topic was correspondence with a cocoa trader offering “Grade A” beans, which prompted me to ask if that was an official standard of the producing country or a marketing name. Along the way, I will discuss the importance of adopting a suitable conceptual framework and related language to make these conversations easier and more fruitful to have more impact. Finally, I will round things up with a proposal for an ideal method for evaluating organoleptic, chemical, and other aspects of cocoa beans. Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and resource links: https://lnkd.in/g3WpY7ky 🍫🍫🍫🍫 🍫🍫🍫🍫 🍫🍫🍫🍫 Living #LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife one story at a time. Join LIVE to comment and ask questions during the episode. Please like the video, subscribe to the YT PodSaveChocolate channel, comment, and share! #cacao #cocoa #cacau #chocolate #specialtychocolate #craftchocolate Bluesky.app, Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Tiktok: @discoverchoc 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://lnkd.in/dChQXTjA
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Grading Cocoa | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 110
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#PodSaveChocolate Ep 110

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Episode 110 Overview

This episode features an exploration of how cocoa beans are graded (evaluated) and how the grading is expressed.

The inspiration for this topic was correspondence with a cocoa trader offering “Grade A” beans, which prompted me to ask if that was an official standard of the producing country or a marketing name.

  • Review: What is Quality?
  • What Are Grading Standards?
  • The Cut Test – why, how, what, drawbacks
  • Organoleptic Grading
  • Current Tech
  • My Proposed “Ideal” Method

Along the way, I will discuss the importance of adopting a suitable conceptual framework and related language to make these conversations easier and more fruitful to have more impact.

Finally, I will round things up with a proposal for an ideal method for evaluating organoleptic, chemical, and other aspects of cocoa beans.

Grading standards by country | United Nations iLibrary
A compilation of grading standards for cocoa beans, both national and international, is presented in the table that follows.
UN iLibrary

Resources

ISO 2451:2017
Cocoa beans — Specification and quality requirements
ISO
Cacao of Excellence
Cacao of Excellence
HEIRLOOM CACAO PRESERVATION FUND
To discover, identify and preserve fine flavor Heirloom cacao varieties for the conservation of biological diversity and the empowerment of farming communities.
HEIRLOOM CACAO PRESERVATION FUND
An image dataset of cut-test-classified cocoa beans
Classifying cocoa beans, considering some specific standards, is required and regulated around the world, if commercialization is intended, or it can …
ScienceDirectAuthor links open overlay panelF.A. Santos, E.S. Palmeira, G.J. Jesus
Image Datasets of Cocoa Beans for Taxonomy Nuances Evaluation
Six image datasets of cut-test-classified cocoa beans were created from the research presented in [FelipeAntunes_Dissertation_PPGMC.pdf]. Each dataset contains 14 classes (namely: Compartmentalized Brown, Compartmentalized White, Compartmentalized Partially Purple, Compartmentalized Purple, Compartmentalized Slatty, Plated Brown, Plated White, Plated Partially Purple, Plated Purple, Plated Slatty, Moldered, Flattened, Brittle and Agglutinated) with 100 images per class, totaling 1400 images per dataset. Those bases were created to evaluate nuances in classification methods. The source dataset from which those images were derived is present in [An_Image_Dataset_of_Cut-Test-Classified_Cocoa_Beans.pdf].
Mendeley DataFelipe Antunes
TheChocolateLife LIVE - Deep Dive into Cut Tests
Episode 33 streams live starting at 12:00 EDT on Friday, April 15th.
The Chocolate LifeTheChocolateWire
(Re)Defining Quality in Cocoa
I’ve spent a lot of the past dozen years or so evaluating chocolate and cocoa professionally. I’ve tasted an uncounted number and variety of chocolates and confections and beans for my own edification as well as as a judge in a variety of competitions, including the Good Food
The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon
Image datasets of cocoa beans for taxonomy nuances evaluation - PMC
There are some classification methods that generate nuances in the final accuracy caused by objects positioning, framing and damage. These occurrences may result in a drop of accuracy in computer vision systems that were trained with structured…
NCBI home page∗Corresponding author. fante.antunesgmail.com

Science Direct: Classification of fermented cocoa beans (cut test) using computer vision

HySpex

Hyperspectral imaging for cocoa bean grading

ResearchGate: Neural network-based electronic nose for cocoa beans quality assessment

Questions?

If you have questions or want to comment, you can do so during the episode or, if you are a ChocolateLife member, you can add them in the Comments below at any time.

#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate
#PodSaveChoc #PSC
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife

Future Episodes

None were scheduled at the time this post was published.

#PodSaveChocolate and #TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archives

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#PodSaveChocolate Archive – Episodes 101+
News, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. #PodSaveChocolate! [ Updated March 2, 2025. ]
The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon
#PodSaveChocolate Archive Episodes 1-100
News, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. #PodSaveChocolate!
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#TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archive
News, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon
PodSaveChocolate
Hosted by Clay Gordon, the creator and moderator of TheChocolateLife.com, #PodSaveChocolate covers a wide variety of topics in the worlds of cocoa and chocolate. The video versions of this podcast are hosted and archived on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Click on the PodSaveChocolate link in the top nav on TheChocolateLife for the links to the post accompanying each episode.
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