But what if the process of preserving the taste of the cocoa bean also, incidentally, results in a healthier chocolate?Cocoa beans grown on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific are picked at the exact moment of ripeness, says Martyn O'Dare, co-founder of chocolate brand Firetree Chocolate. The farmers then break open the cocoa pods and start the six-day process of fermentation, before drying them out. Some of the dried beans are then sent to the UK, to Firetree, where they are roasted whole
