Cocoa beans are divided into many different lines: Forastero, Criollo, Trinitario… Each line will have a different quality and taste.
Forastero: Little flavor and poor quality.
Criollo: The beans of this variety are considered to give out the best taste.
Trinitario: This is a crossed line between Criollo and Forastero, and the beans also give out a good flavour. It is considered as a high-quality nut, the beginning of the production of high-quality chocolate.
The cocoa variety grown in Vietnam is a hybrid of Trinitario, which is a high-quality variety in the top 10% of “flavoured” beans worldwide. Although Vietnam currently accounts for only 0.1% of world’s cocoa production, Vietnam’s cocoa beans are highly valued for the unique flavor, which is very different from the cocoa beans grown in the world. In October 2013 at the Salon du Chocolat contest held in Paris, France, Vietnamese cocoa beans were voted as the best cocoa beans in Asia-Pacific. And ICCO has listed Vietnam on the list of the world’s leading producers of good-tasting cocoa.
In Vietnam, cocoa trees are grown mainly in the provinces of: Dong Nai, Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Binh Phuoc, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Lam Dong, Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak… Each region with different characteristics of the soil (land, water, climate, etc.) and the way the farmers process the cocoa beans after harvest will produce differently unique flavor. And good cocoa beans are the beginning to create a delicious chocolate bar.