KOA: the tasty way of exploring

The cocoa pod consists of a thick shell that protects the inside. In Ghana, the beans make up around 25% of the cocoa fruit. The pulp is another 25% and the rest is husk. The tasty pulp is often overlooked, which inspired us to upcycle it into tasty treats. By utilising cocoa fruit pulp through the KOA innovative processes, this upcycling vision has become a reality and it creates added value.

The fresh cocoa pulp balances tropical flavours of intense sweetness and exotic acidity. Thanks to gentle and swift processing, KOA preserve the natural taste of the cocoa.

We are proud to make you tasting the KOA cacao juice during our daily workshops in Brussels. KOA Pure is a natural cocoa fruit juice without any additives. The fresh juice is gently pasteurised. The best quality juice travels from smallholder farms in Ghana directly to us!

In summer time we also make you tasting our sorbets homemade with KOA. It is the key to a refreshingly creamy indulgence.

In 2017, the KOA founders had the sparkling idea of how to contribute to sustainable growth in rural Ghana. KOA was born from a sophisticated concept, innovative processes, and a great deal of passion.

At KOA, they spot the hidden potential to empower people. They discovered that the cocoa fruit has much to offer besides the beans. The fruit lets them increase farmers’ income, create new jobs in rural areas and is a resource for added value for the people and planet.

Through training with KOA, cocoa farmers gain new knowledge and methods to process the previously discarded cocoa pulp. Thanks to the partnership with KOA, smallholder farmers earn an additional income which they receive on the same day as production. 100% of the payments are verified with blockchain.

Over the last decades, supply chain scandals and cocoa farmer poverty have continued to rock the cocoa industry, leading to increased consumer demand and political efforts to improve transparency and accountability. Certifications are one important way to tackle this. However, we need to do more. At The Belgian Chocolate Makers we always look at how our cacao providers do transparency and how they increase the impact significantly.

Most of the KOA team are young workers from the surrounding communities who now have a new outlook on life. Additionally, the KOA team consists of internationally experienced experts, making valuable contributions towards sustainable growth in their home country.

By processing the cocoa pulp, KOA make use of a natural resource, previously thrown away. Through solar power, they gently remove the surplus part of the fruit. The beans remain unharmed and proper fermentation of the beans for the chocolate production continues to be guaranteed.

Their mobile processing equipment only runs on solar energy. Together with experts from Swiss and Ghanaian universities, they developed a process which integrates modern technology into a traditional environment.

As their processing site is mobile, they are able to extract the cocoa pulp in the center of the communities, next to the cocoa farms. That’s why they call it a Community Mobile Processing Unit. In short, the CMPU is the core of the innovative process.

Through renewable energy, they can process cocoa fruits even in remote areas. Solar power also enables KOA to immediately cool the fresh cocoa fruit products to guarantee best quality. This is the first step of their production chain, in the heart of the tropical rainforest.