Module 14 - Cocoa

2. Cocoa's Journey to Malaysia
Cocoa, the nectar of the gods and even the cocoa tree's botanical name, 'Theobroma cacao' translated from the Greek means "food of the gods" has a history rooted in the mists of time as far back as 1662. In the early days, the native belief that cocoa tree was of divine origin and resulted in a holy ritual being performed whenever cocoa trees were planted.
Cocoa has successfully conquered all countries and continents of the world in just over 500 years since its first discovery in the ancient civilization of the Mayas and Aztecs in South America. In South America, the Aztecs considered the beverage a royal drink served in ceremonial golden goblets. The Mayas of the Yucatán and the Aztecs of Mexico cultivated cocoa and the Aztec emperor Montezuma is said to have regularly consumed a preparation called chocolatl, a mix of roasted cocoa nibs, maize, water and spice.
The cocoa tree soon began to appear in Spanish colonies some 20 years after it had been brought back by the early explorers. However, the processing of cocoa beans began in earnest, but under a veil of secrecy in monasteries. Chocolate was restricted to nobility and the recipes were kept secret for nearly 100 years. Hernando Cortez brought back the first cocoa and chocolate drink recipe to the Court of King of Spain in 1528. Gradually a transformation began. Cane sugar was added. Newly discovered spices such as vanilla and cinnamon were also used as flavourings.
Then chocolate spread, to France in 1615, the UK in 1650s and in America in 1755. There was no looking back. Cocoa and chocolate took America and the world by storm. Today it is the most popular and most relished flavour in the world.
Cocoa was first introduced to South East Asia in 17th century by the Spanish. The Spanish brought the cocoa from Latin America to the Philippines in 1670. Then, it was believed that the cocoa tree was later brought to Indonesia and Sabah in the early 18th century.
In Malaysia, the first cocoa planted area was found in Melaka in 1778. Subsequently, the cocoa planting was started in a plotted area at Serdang Agriculture Station and Silam Agriculture Research Center, Sabah. The earliest cocoa commercialization started between 1853 to 1959 where cocoa types Amelonado was first planted at Jerangau, Terengganu. The planted area was 403 hectarages.
Cocoa trial was further undertaken at Serdang, Cheras, Kuala Lipis and Temerloh between 1936 to 1940. However, cocoa was only actively planted after world war II. Cocoa officially came to Quoin Hill, Tawau, Sabah in 1960. From then on, there was no turning back to cocoa fever.




3. PROCESS OF COFFEE SEED TO COFFEE POWDER

Coffee does not exist in nature in the form that we normally buy it. Coffee is prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. These seeds are commonly known as 'coffee beans,' even though they are not precisely beans. The green 'coffee beans' that are collected from the coffee plantations are sent to places where they are roasted, ground and finely crushed to make coffee powder.
The following are a detail of all the processes that green coffee beans have to go through before they actually become coffee powder. First, they must be picked from plantations. Green coffee beans are most frequently picked by hand by laborers who get paid by the basketful. Since coffee beans are a type of drupe, with fruit flesh directly wrapping the coffee bean, after being gathered the flesh of the coffee bean must be promptly removed by soaking, scouring and mechanically rubbing the bean. The de-fruited coffee bean is then cleansed with water to remove sticking fruit and additional sugars before drying. The green coffee beans are then spread over a large concrete or rock plane, where they are dried by air and sunlight.
The next step in preparation is categorization of the beans by color and size. Discolored, decayed and damaged beans are removed at this point. The roasting process that follows is important in producing an aromatic cup of coffee. When roasted, the green coffee bean expands to nearly twice its initial size, changing in color and density. As the bean takes in heat, the color changes to yellow and then to a light 'cinnamon' brown. At this point in the roasting process, the coffee beans will start cracking, quite like popping popcorn. The final product can be crushed into savory coffee powder.
Common types of coffee species are Arabica , Robusta and Liberica .
coffee beans





4. BOH tea cultivation
The story of BOH begins in 1890 when seven-year-old J.A. Russell arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya with his father. At that time, the capital was a mishmash of tin miners' shanties, houses built by Chinese immigrants and palatial new buildings designed by British government architects.
BOH Plantations was founded in 1929 by J.A. Russel, a British businessman during the British colonial era in Malaya. He was optimistic of the tea plantation business due to huge demands despite of the world-wide Great Depression at that time. As a result of the potential, he applied for and was granted a concession of land for his first tea garden in Habu, Cameron Highlands
J.A. was educated in England, but upon his return to Malaya, he began his career in the Straits Trading Company where he became fluent in as many as 5 Chinese dialects as well as Bahasa Melayu. This, together with his close contacts with wealthy Chinese tin-miners, paved the way for his investment in the country's flourishing mining industry.
In partnership with his brothers Philip, Donald and Robert, J.A. soon started diversifying his business interests. In 1908, he ventured into the rubber industry, which was then still in its infancy. He was also involved in the construction business and, together with Philip, was contracted to build the Kuala Lumpur railway station.
In 1913, J.A transacted one of the most remarkable business deals in his career where he acquired almost a third of the town of Ipoh.
Around the same time, he established a colliery at Batu Arang in Selangor. In this venture, he was assisted by his brother Donald, a mining engineer trained at the Colorado School of Mines. Their foresight and initiative helped transform this jungle area into a thriving industrial centre just 25 km from Kuala Lumpur.
But it was his business venture in 1929 that has left an indelible mark on the country. J.A. saw the potential of tea as an important crop for Malaya which until that time had been substantially dependent upon rubber and tin. Together with A.B. Milne, a veteran tea planter from Ceylon, he applied for and was granted a concession of land in Cameron Highlands.
Equipped with a single steamroller, some labourers and several mules, they proceeded to transform steep virgin jungle slopes into the tea garden we now know as Boh, the first highland tea garden in the country.
Thus, BOH Plantations, the current market leader for tea, was born.
J.A. Russell was a scholarly yet dynamic person. When he died in 1933 at the early age of 50, the obituary carried by The Malay Mail, the local English language newspaper, aptly described his life in Malaya:
'His whole career has been a business romance of such magnitude that it cannot be compared with the achievements of any other European in Malaya – past or present.’
More than 5000ft above sea level, on the main mountain range of Malaysia, is one of the most fertile agricultural spots in the country: Cameron Highlands.
Nicknamed ‘Malaysia’s Green Bowl’, the highlands possess all the right attributes of prime cropland - moderate temperatures, high altitude, abundant rainfall, long hours of sunshine and well-drained soil. These features were not lost on J.A. Russell, an established businessman who owned substantial tin and rubber investments in Malaya during the early 1900s. A man of keen business acumen, J.A. noticed that the demand for high quality tea remained high even during slumps.So in 1929, J.A. established Boh Tea Garden, the country’s first highland tea garden in Cameron Highlands. Today, BOH Plantations owns two more tea gardens in Cameron Highlands: Fairlie and Sungei Palas.
Tea is very much like wine; the conditions in which the crop is grown have great influence on its final character. BOH’s tea gardens, bringing together the ideal environmental conditions of Cameron Highlands and the precision of mechanised operations, yield a tea with superb characteristics – bright and brisk complemented by a delightful aroma.
BOH packs its own teas which are marketed in both domestic and international markets.
Today, BOH has the largest combined acreage of tea gardens in the country. The Company remains committed to the legacy left behind by J.A. Russell: to produce great-tasting distinctive teas for generations to come.
Today, BOH Plantations owns three tea gardens - the first garden in Habu, Fairlie Tea Garden and Sungai Palas Tea Garden. To ensure the freshness of its tea products, BOH Plantations also set up a packaging factory near its main garden. BOH tea products are distributed both in domestic and international markets.