Beans to Bars

Papua New Guinea now grows some of the most sought out cocoa in the world. Paradise Food Company established the Queen Emma Chocolate Factory as a Research and Development plant in 2013 and began commercial operations in 2016.

The Queen Emma Chocolate Company with the support of the Cocoa Industry Board is committed to working with the growers and operators to ensure that only the best cocoa is being used to manufacture our chocolates.

Only cocoa that has been tested and met our strict standards such as moisture, taste, purity and uniformity are accepted for the factory to use. When it comes to making the chocolate, the cocoa and chocolate is continuously tested with samples taken in different stages during the process.    

As a 100 percent Papua New Guinea owned company we want to ensure that the village growers get the maximum return from the effort by ensuring that the cocoa is fermented and dried correctly to achieve what is considered as the world’s best cocoa beans

At our chocolate factory the cocoa beans are inspected by our quality assurance team before being emptied into bins. The cocoa beans are transferred via a bucket elevator to a roaster where they are carefully roasted ensuring the best taste profile is achieved before being transferred to a winnowing machine. The winnowing process breaks the roasted cocoa beans removing the think outer skin of the leaving only the rich cocoa nibs. The cocoa nibs are then transferred by an elevator which further breaks the nibs before being passed to a three-roll refiner processing a cocoa paste. The paste is then passed to Ball Mill grinding the cocoa which overtime produces a fine cocoa mass or cocoa liquor. The cocoa liquor is stored in a temperature-controlled tank before being pumped into a mixer to make chocolate. Locally grown sugar and vanilla is ground up and added – in the case of milk chocolate, milk is also added in this stage of the process. As the ingredients are added to the cocoa liquor in a mixer, it is blended and forms a thick paste. The paste is then transferred to 5 roll refiner which then turns the chocolate back into a fine powder. The cocoa powder is transferred by conveyors to the Conches which is a critical part in manufacturing of fine, quality chocolate. The Conches convert the chocolate powder from turning back into a liquid. The Quality Assurance team then ensures that the chocolate is of the right consistency to deliver the smooth rich taste that our consumers expect. Once the chocolate has met this criteria it is then transferred to the chocolate tanks. From here the chocolate is tempered before being piped to be deposited into the chocolate moulds. The moulds are being filled before being vibrated, then cooled. When cooled the chocolate blocks are removed from moulds and then sent to the wrapping machine. Chocolate is also transferred to a depositor then cooled through a cooling tunnel making both chocolate chips and buttons which is supplied to mainly commercial clients and used for further processing.

The Queen Emma Chocolate Company, a shining jewel in the crown of burgeoning chocolate makers worldwide.