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Guittard works in close cooperation with growers to ensure the best possible post-harvest practices are used. Growers harvest the cacao pods only at peak ripeness, opening the pods to take out the beans, and then perfectly fermenting the beans, usually in wooden boxes covered with banana leaves for an average period of three-to-five days, d epending on the genetics of the beans. Finally, growers spread the beans out to dry naturally in the sun, sometimes using a rake to design traditional and carefully-crafted patterns.
Cacao beans are grown and harvested year-round primarily from October through March. Although more labor intensive, frequent harvesting ensures that each cacao pod is allowed to reach optimal ripeness before being picked.
Specific fermentation methods are a major benchmark in developing preferred flavor characteristics. With respect to duration, for instance, too short a fermentation results in chocolate with bitterness, astringency or little flavor, whereas too long a fermentation causes the chocolate to take on putrid or foreign tastes.
Guittard chocolates are made almost exclusively of sun-dried beans. Sun-drying enhances natural chocolate flavor and avoids the pitfalls of other methods.
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