On Thursday, October 22, 2020, Prof. Dr. Lienda Aliwarga as the head of the Biomass and Food Processing Technology Group shared her knowledge about chocolate processing technology through an online workshop entitled "Chocolate Making Process: From Bean to Bar". This event was held in collaboration with Foodreview Indonesia magazine and the Southeast Asian Food and Agricultural Science and Technology (SEAFAST) Center, Bogor Agricultural University. In addition to Prof. Lienda, also present as a speaker was Drs. Purwo Susanto, a practitioner in the field of chocolate processing with decades of experience in the industry who has been invited several times as a guest lecturer at lectures in the Chemical Engineering and Food Engineering Programs at ITB.
This workshop is very important to rekindle the spirit of the nation's children to develop the chocolate industry starting from upstream (plantations) to downstream (ready-to-eat chocolate products). According to data from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) in 2019, Indonesia used to be the third largest cocoa bean producer in the world. However, Indonesia's cocoa production continued to decline until in 2018 Indonesia was only the sixth largest producer in the world. In fact, Indonesia is located in the equatorial region which is the best area for growing cocoa trees.
If the cocoa plantation sector is developed, the potential for increasing state revenue through foreign exchange from exports is very large. In 2019, cocoa contributed as the third largest export commodity in the plantation sector with a value of USD 1.19 billion (Ministry of Agriculture, 2020). The potential for developing the chocolate processing industry is also very large because the food and beverage industry is the largest and fastest growing industry in Indonesia according to the Ministry of Industry. Therefore, cocoa and its processed products are one of the national priority industries in the National Industrial Development Master Plan (RIPIN) 2015-2035.
Through this workshop, participants are invited to learn about the stages needed to process chocolate, starting from the beans to ready-to-eat chocolate products. The technologies used to produce chocolate derivative products are also explained in depth. In addition to this online workshop, the two speakers have also shared this knowledge with the wider public through a book entitled "Cocoa and Chocolate Production Technology".
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