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Screening and segregation of whole cocoa bean fractions
What questions do you have about this RFP?
Get them answered by the team at Cargill.
Background

A whole cocoa bean is the starting material for making cocoa mass (aka cocoa liquor), cocoa butter, and cocoa powder, used as ingredients in chocolate and chocolate flavored products.  

 

The cocoa bean consists primarily of the cotyledon or nib (88%), an outer shell (11%) and a mix of very fine (<1mm) cocoa and non-cocoa related matter (1%). To separate the cotyledon from the shell, the bean is commonly cracked first, which can generate nibs of small but variable sizes and shapes, making it difficult to sort them from the fines and shell fragments.  

 

To ensure the best cocoa quality possible and to minimize the likelihood of contaminants like metals and toxins, the shell and fine components should be separated from the nibs. Current industrial systems, most commonly aspirators that leverage the density difference to blow the lighter components out of the stream, struggle to distinguish and fully segregate the different components, leading to yield losses from misclassifying nibs as shells/dust. An additional complication is that cocoa beans are naturally high in fat, which can cause caking, where nibs and fines clump together. This reduces the effectiveness of industrial systems (15-20 MT/hour throughput) designed to separate these components and leads to further losses.

What we're looking for

We are looking for a process and/or equipment capable of differentiating and segregating cocoa bean fractions - nibs, shells, and fines.

Solutions of interest include:
  • Mechanical separation equipment (e.g. sieving, air classification, vibratory systems)
  • Vision systems (automated optical sorting)
  • Alternative process workflows
Our must-have requirements are:
  • Ability to reliably identify nib fractions.
  • Assist in the effective and efficient segregation of fractions (e.g., nibs in shell, or shell in nibs), with the potential to achieve less than 0.5% w/w misclassifications once integrated into existing processes.
  • Potential to operate 24/7 at high flow rates.
Our nice-to-have's are:
  • Minimize operational costs through innovative design or process efficiency.
  • Energy-efficient technology or processes.
  • Compact design that reduces equipment footprint.
  • Operate continuously without requiring manual cleaning and maintenance during operations.
  • Minimize or prevent accumulation of product/waste.
Acceptable technology readiness levels (TRL):
Levels 2-9
What we can offer you
Eligible partnership models:
Sponsored research
Co-development
Supply/purchase
Licensing
Material transfer
Capstone project
Benefits:
Sponsored Research
We will offer research funds up to 100k USD for early stage solutions. Additionally, for later stage solutions, we could fund the co-development to finalize the invention and license / purchase the technology
Expertise
Access to Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate scientists, engineers and operations experts, as needed.
Compounds and Reagents
Beans for testing solutions up to 1MT, depending on TRL of proposed solution.
Who we are

Our global team includes more than 1,500 research, development, applications, technical services and intellectual property specialists working in more than 200 locations. Together, they provide a spectrum of services encompassing technical service, applications, development, research, intellectual asset management, and scientific and regulatory affairs.

 Learn more
Reviewers
DL
Dimitris Lykomitros
Technology Scout
SH
Sonia Henry
KM Lead
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn
Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa
Q&A with Cargill

The Q&A is now closed.

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Most upvoted
Q.
Is it possible to share information about the current solution being used by Cargill?
1
A.
Dear Brian, Today we use what is more or less the standard for the industry. For bean cleaning sieving, aspiration, magnets, destoners and for winnowing a combination of heating, breaking, sieving/aspiration to remove shell from nib. You can check the main equipment suppliers to have a better understanding, please look for Buhler, Duyvis, HDM, and Foodmasters solution on their websites. King regard, Cor.
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
October 11, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
You are interested in mechanical separation equipment, vision systems, and alternative process flows. Are you open to a wet fractionation method?
1
A.
Yes to all, including wet fractionation.
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
October 21, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
Would appreciate to know the current Output rate in first pass, say if 100kg is fed what is the percentage of accept? And from that we can work towards maximizing the % of accept in first pass
1
A.
The targetted amount of shell in nib after winnowing is 1,75%. We start at the winnowing process at an average shell content of 11,50%. It depends on the type of winnower and the number of tray applied at different mesh sizes. A single pass through the entire process should lead to (100kg beans - 9.75kg shell and fines) an output of 90.25kg winnowed beans.
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
October 29, 2024
Is this response helpful?
1
0
Q.
Would you be interested in using diffuse optical sensing technologies for this application?
1
A.
Reading quickly about this technology it will deliver part of the solution as it will be potentially capable to identify nib, shell, soil, sand, and other fragments, but is will not enable the effective rejection of the undesired fragments (e.g. sand or shell)?
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
October 14, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
0
A.
OK - thanks! So to clarify -- an proposal using this technology-based solution would be of interest for this RFP, or would it not?
1
A.
When your proposal can detect the different fragments it will provide a partial solution, ideally it also is capable of effectively segregate and spit the fragments. Is this a better answer to your question. I would recommend to bring your proposal, because we might need to combine multiple proposal to get the full solution in...
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
October 16, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
In our case we develop affordable AI-based autonomous microscope device for quality inspection in food products. Thus, we envisage a partial solution to effectively confirm/monitor quality at the end. Is this accepted?
1
A.
Yes, we are open to this key element to control the process and could potentially be combined with solutions from others to effectively segregate all fractions.
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
November 6, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
0
A.
Thank you for the fast response. We will submit the application clearly explaining from the very begining that our solution is not intended to carry out the "rejection", but as a quality control test to confirm that process is being correct/accurate. Thanks!
1
A.
thanks
DL
Dimitris Lykomitros, Technology Scout, Cargill
November 25, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
I have a researcher who is working on something very similar to what is being requested in the RFP, but they are unsure if they should apply as their work does not function on a continuous basis. The device they have created makes all of the desired measurements though. Can you clarify if this would still be of interest?
DG
Douglas Gisewhite, Tech Transfer, Penn State University, State College
November 26, 2024
1
A.
Depends a bit on the analytical principle? Could you share this. Prefer a continuous method to enable line control, although a reliable and ready-to-use benchtop/lab application could be considered.
CA
Cor Van Appeldoorn, Product Line Expert FSQR Cocoa, Cargill
November 27, 2024
Is this response helpful?
0
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