Cocoa drying systems in Côte d'Ivoire
What the crop demands, what the country imposes, and what that means for capacity.
Roughly two fifths of the world’s cocoa comes out of Côte d’Ivoire, almost all of it dried on mats at the farm or the cooperative. That works for the main crop, which falls in the dry season. It fails for the mid-crop, which does not — and the mid-crop is what produces the mouldy beans that discount a lot.
The situation in Côte d'Ivoire
The largest agricultural processing economy in francophone West Africa, and the world’s largest producer of both cocoa and raw cashew. Abidjan gives it something its neighbours do not have: a deep-water port two days from the northern growing zones, which makes export-grade processing viable inland rather than only at the coast. It also means the country exports a great deal of unprocessed volume that could be processed at home, which is the gap most of these pages are about.
Growing regions. Poro and Tchologo in the north, Indénié-Djuablin and the southern forest belt
What cocoa bean drying demands
Cocoa drying is fermentation completion, not water removal — the reactions started in the fermentation box continue through the first days on the mat, and rushing them locks in acidity and astringency the roaster will taste. Beans must reach 7–8 % moisture slowly. Too fast and the bean is acidic; too slow, or rained on, and it moulds.
Harvest calendar
Main crop October to March, mid-crop May to August. The mid-crop overlaps the rains, and that overlap is where the quality problem lives.
The working campaign window as the trade runs it. It shifts a fortnight either way with the rains.
Process parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Drying temperature | 50–60 °C |
| Final moisture | 7–8 % |
| Yield (fresh : dried) | 2.5 : 1 |
| Cycle time | 20–30 h |
Sizing starting points from ordinary processing practice, not a validated recipe for your product. Confirm against your own intake and your buyer’s specification.
Worked sizing example
For a unit taking 15 tonnes of fresh product a day, at a yield of 2.5 : 1:
Illustrative figures calculated from the yield and campaign window above. They size a conversation; they do not describe any existing installation.
Fuel available in Côte d'Ivoire
The world’s largest raw cashew producer: shell is the most available fuel in the country. Palm kernel shell and fibre in the south, cocoa pod husk throughout the forest zone.
- Base load. Cashew shell · Palm kernel shell · Cocoa pod husk
- Supplement. Palm fibre (mesocarp) · Coffee husk and parchment · Rice husk · Coconut shell
See all 27 fuels and their properties
Market and buyer requirements
European and increasingly Asian grinders, buying against defect counts on the cut test. EU deforestation regulation has also made traceable, cooperative-level processing more valuable than it was, which favours drying at the cooperative rather than the farm.
Explore further
The systems that hold this profile
Other crops in Côte d'Ivoire
Raw cashew nut · Mango · Coffee · Natural rubber · Cassava
Cocoa drying elsewhere
Frequently asked questions
Why not just dry cocoa on mats?
It works for the October-to-March main crop and fails for the May-to-August mid-crop, when rain interrupts the run. A bean rewetted part-way through the 20 to 30 hour descent to 7–8 % moisture moulds, and mould is counted on the cut test — the defect that discounts a lot most reliably.
How slowly does cocoa need to dry?
Slowly: 50–60 °C over 20 to 30 hours down to 7–8 % moisture. Drying is fermentation completion rather than water removal, and rushing it locks in the acidity and astringency a roaster will taste. Too fast is a worse fault than too slow.
Is 15 t/day a realistic cooperative scale?
Yes, for a substantial cooperative union rather than a single village society. At roughly 2.5 : 1 wet to dry it produces about 6 tonnes of dried bean a day over a 20 to 30 hour cycle, and at that volume the traceability records EU buyers now ask for become worth keeping properly.
Size a unit in Côte d'Ivoire
Tell us your daily fresh volume and target output, and we will size the chambers, the burner and the fuel available around your site.
Request a quote