Meya Farm Crash Course 1 - Harvesting

What would you expect from harvesting cacao fruit, opening pods, and fermenting cacao beans? Easy peasy? Turns out... it became quite the crash course for us!

We met at the base of Meya Farm in Pingtung, Taiwan, gathered the tools and equipment, hopped onto the blue pickup truck loaded with blue baskets and burlap sacks, and headed toward the "Taiwan Sugar" lot. The "Taiwan Sugar" lot is one of the largest plots at Meya Farm, around 6800 hectares, with cacao trees that are about three years old.

Covered from head to toe with the conically-shaped sun hat, head and shoulder covers, arm sleeves, thick cotton-linen gloves, rubber boots, and garden shears in hand, we carried the burlap sacks and marched toward cacao tree row number one. I was the rookie cacao harvester reporting for duty.

Our mission? Squat down, search for ripened pods, and trim away damaged or infected cacao fruit. Since Meya Farm takes a "as natural as possible" approach to farming, there are also plenty of uninvited little guests happily feasting on the cacao pods in different seasons. Weeding and pruning are also all done manually on a regular basis.

As the burlap sacks quickly became heavier with harvested cacao fruit, the sweat also began dripping inside our clothes under the blazing 34°C sunshine. Even with water breaks and occasional escapes under the tree shade, I could slowly feel that... "Olivia is running out of gas"!

We always knew cacao farming was not easy, but participating in the harvest gave us an even deeper respect for cacao farmers. Working under such intense conditions requires incredible physical strength and endurance (and lots of water). Every cacao pods and every cacao bean truly feels precious to all the chocolate lovers!

Many thanks to Mr. Chiu, Mr. Huang, and Tony for the opportunity to learn at the Meya Farm.

Olivia