Types of cocoa beans

Cocoa beans drying in the sun

There are different categories of cocoa beans. The traditional varieties of Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario, while still used in marketing materials, are no longer considered to have a botanical basis.

The categories bulk and flavor cocoa are used to distinguish quality of beans. As of 2017, 95% of cocoa produced was bulk cocoa.

Traditional varieties

The three traditional varieties: Forastero, Trinitario, and Criollo

Cocoa beans are traditionally classified into three main varieties: Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario. Use of these terms has changed across different contexts and times, and recent genetic research has found that the categories of Forastero and Triniario are better understood as geohistorical inventions rather than as having a botanical basis. They are still used frequently in marketing material.

Criollo

Criollo has traditionally been the most prized variety. Criollo trees are presumed to be native to South America. Over time, they became grown in Mesoamerica, where they were encountered by the Spanish conquistadors. The word Criollo is derived from Creole, meaning native, authentic, and indigenous. The Spanish called cocoa trees planted in Venezuela Criollo; but they actually came from neighboring Mexico and Guatemala.

Forastero

After European colonialization, population decline and disease led to the Spanish and Portuguese replacing cacao crops with new varieties found in South America. These were referred to as Forastero, which can be translated as strange or foreign because of how it looked and tasted different from the Criollo variety.

Forastero strains are generally of the Amelonado type. They are associated with West Africa.

Trinitario

The name for any combination between Criollo and Forastero. They were named after the Caribbean island of Trinidad, where in 1724 the first hybrid of Venezuelan Criollo and Amelonado is understood to have been created. This was more disease-resistant than Criollo, while tasting better than Forastero.

Modern varieties

Researchers in 2008 identified ten genetic clusters of Theobroma cacao, with 36 sub-clusters containing at least five specimens. These new types were Amelonado, Contamana, Criollo, Curaray, Guiana, Iquitos, Marañon, Nacional, Nanay, and Purús. 2022 research added the Caquetá type, found in Colombia.

The notion that each tree is a certain type, for example, Criollo or Amelonado, has been challenged by research showing single trees producing cocoa pods of different types. Single pods have even been found with seeds of different types.

CCN-51

As of 2015, CCN-51 was a very popular strain of cacao. It was very controversial, described by large chocolate manufacturers as a solution to increasing demand for chocolate, and criticized by advocates of flavor cocoa.

Nacional

Main article: Nacional (cocoa bean)

The modern Nacional is a hybrid of the ancestral Nacional and Criollo and Amelonado. The bean is considered floral.

Industrial classifications

Bulk

Main article: Bulk cocoa

Bulk cocoa generally comes from what is traditionally designated Forastero-type trees. As of 2017, 95% of cocoa beans produced were classified as bulk cocoa.

Specialty

Specialty cocoa is an umbrella term usually describing cocoa that has consistent and verifiable special attributes. These attributes are distinguished by country, along lines including management, origin and quality. It contains fine and flavor cocoa, fair trade, heirlooms, organic, sustainable and other certified cocoas.

Fair trade

Main article: Fair trade cocoa

Cocoa certified as produced according to certain ethical requirements, such as being purchased for a minimum price from farmers.

Fine and flavor

Main article: Flavor cocoa

Flavor cocoa is cocoa that is sold at a premium. It may be from specific geographical regions, crops or varieties, or use specific drying or fermenting techniques.