Malaysia’s cocoa growers, chocolatiers seek niche in competitive market

ALOR GAJAH, Melaka: Freshly harvested cocoa pods at a farm in Melaka will leave one in awe of nature's wonders.

“Customers who roast my cocoa beans reported that the beans have a distinctive aroma, which reminds them of gula melaka ,” Mr Ting said.READ: Export value of Malaysia's chocolate on the rise since 2015 Recognising the potential of the cocoa sector, the federal government is keen to increase its momentum going forward to promote local beans and improve production, and the local players say they are willing to play a part, too.Cocoa used to be a popular crop in Malaysia, but that has changed over the years. From 400,000ha in 1990, there were only 11,000ha of cocoa farms in 2012, largely due to competition for land use with oil palm and other high-yielding crops.

The senior Koh is highly regarded in the industry, with his farm conferred an exemplary farm status by the Malaysian Cocoa Board in 2006, after he successfully used grafting techniques to stop diseases from spreading. After five or six days, the beans are dried in a sheltered shed for another seven days, until their moisture content falls below seven per cent.

Their bean-to-bar quest begins with sourcing for single-origin cocoa beans, usually from farms tended by farmers passionate about the crop. “Fermentation takes six days, and drying takes another six days, depending on the weather. That’s a good 12 days spent. It’s labour intensive and not what most farmers want to do,” said Benns’ director Wilfred Ng.

They travelled to as far as Sabah, Johor and Pahang in search of the best cocoa beans, and eventually found their favourite in Jengka, Pahang. “Today the Malaysian Cocoa Board has set up an exhibition, and you're all invited to enjoy some chocolates produced in Malaysia, which are even better than the ones you get overseas.”

Ms Kok acknowledged that the expansion of the cocoa grinding industry was constrained by the lack of locally produced cocoa beans, while price volatility, competition for land use with other crops, escalating input costs, and pests and diseases are the major factors leading to a decline in interest on cocoa cultivation.To mitigate these factors, the Cocoa Cluster Development programme was introduced under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan , she said.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

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