Vietnam - Anh Em B10 (1KG)

Region and Country

Dak Lak Province, Central Highlands, Vietnam

Story

Even though cacao was introduced to Vietnam in the late 1800’s, it wasn’t until the 21st century that it started to be cultivated on a more professional level. Cocoa is currently grown in Vietnam by more than 12,000 farmers who typically cultivate on plots of 1 to 3 hectares. Coconut and fruit trees such as pomelo, banana and longan are also grown on the plots.
Anh Em Cacao Co. was founded in 2017 by two school friends – Truong Minh Thang and Nguyen Duy Thong – who share a passion for cacao and chocolate. After realizing that the quality of the cocoa produced in Dak Lak could be improved, they did research on microbial biodiversity and post harvesting processes to optimize the flavour potential of the beans.
This cocoa would become the basis for some of the award winning chocolate Truong and Nguyen started to produce through their brand Tbros. Proud of the quality they were able to achieve with the farmers and looking to further benefit the producers and their communities, Anh Em would go on to export these beans to Europe and the rest of the world.

Harvest

October – December (main crop); April – May (mid-crop)

Genetics

Trinitario hybrids

Post Harvesting Process

Cocoa pods are bought directly from the farmers and delivered to Anh Em’s facilities. Fermentation takes place in wooden boxes for a period of 5 days and turned 3 times at 48h and 96h. The beans are afterwards dried in the sun for 7 to 10 days depending on the weather conditions. The beans are turned every 2 hours.