Processing Cocoa Beans In A Grove

Under a thatched roof open to a lush cocoa grove, workers process freshly picked pods into dried beans ready for sale. A shirtless man rolls cocoa on a stone slab, another feeds beans into a hand-cranked grinder, and several women pound beans in wooden mortars with long pestles. Woven baskets hold beans at every stage, from wet pulp to dark roasted seed, and burlap sacks stamped with cocoa labels line the workshop walls. Wide trays set on a table sort the beans by color and dryness, while pods in yellow, orange and green still hang from the trees just outside. Banana and palm leaves crowd the background, and a village path leads toward distant huts. The trays of sorted beans out front already separate the harvest by shade before anyone reaches for a scoop.