Conacado opens new process line in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, September 30, 2021 

Tomorrow marks the opening of a new cocoa processing line in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The opening ceremony will take place Friday, October 1, 2021.  The Dominican Republic’s President Luis Abinader will officiate the opening of the new processing line with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Production will commence immediately after. The plant will produce cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cake, powder and much more. In addition to cocoa processing, Conacado Agroindustrial also announces its first tentative steps into the world of chocolate production.

The relationship between Conacado Agroindustrial and Royal Duyvis Wiener is longstanding and this new process line has been in the making for quite some time. Royal Duyvis Wiener is therefore proud to have contributed to Conacado Agroindustrial’s latest addition to the processing plant. All major processing equipment in the plant has been manufactured by Royal Duyvis Wiener.

Conacado Agroindustrial and Royal Duyvis Wiener have worked closely together to get this high quality line in play. In the first phase of the line beans are broken and pre-sieved, after which the winnower – unique in design and efficiency – separates shells and nibs. The prized piece of the production line is the Alkalizer and patented Roaster combination. This ground-breaking Roaster has become the epicenter of the processing plant. This is where the flavor and color of the end product are defined.

To quote Jan Kruiver, Technical Product Manager for Royal Duyvis Wiener, “Sustainability has been taken into account in constructing this line. With the short roasting cycles, this line is very energy effective and fit for the future. All without compromising on the quality of product.”

Separating alkalized and natural products is essential. This drove Conacado Agroindustrial to install a second grinding line. Both lines consist of the powerful Nibrotom pre-ginder and two vertical W90 Ball Mills.

The processing line is furthermore enhanced by three Royal Duyvis Wiener presses, with an option to extend. Cake is grinded in a classic state-of-the-art Classifier Mill with stabilizing silos. Fineness, color and stability is guaranteed. Conacado Agroindustrial has a reputation to uphold in delivering premium natural cocoa powder. This new processing line allows them to expand that reputation to the quality of a vast range of alkalized products.

‘Dominican beans are top of the bill when it comes to flavor. The combination of bean quality, the patented Royal Duyvis Wiener roaster and the alkalizing process leads to the flavor explosion Conacado was aiming for’, says Elizabeth Burgos, Head of Quality for Conacado Agroindustrial, adding that the results for both natural and alkalized cocoa are top of the line.

Stepping into the world of chocolate together
Together with the launch of this new processing line Conacado Agroindustrial also announce its entry into the chocolate market. Starting point obviously is the high quality cocoa products Conacado produces in-house. To support the first steps in chocolate production, Royal Duyvis Wiener provided a Qchoc-50 chocolate processing line. The Qchoc-50 is an all-in-one small scale processing line, combining a mixer, grinder and conche in one frame. It is the smallest processing line Royal Duyvis Wiener has on offer. Ideal for testing recipes, low capacity production or pilot plants. Eventually, the capacities of the Royal Duyvis Wiener Qchoc processing lines can run up to 2300 kg/h continuous production, so there is always room to grow. This cooperation give Royal Duyvis Wiener the unique opportunity to showcase how their compound production equipment available, in addition to the traditional chocolate lines.

Elizabeth Burgos says “Our recipe is based on the high-quality products produced in our own plant. The Qchoc-50 is ideal for us, we combine high quality equipment with ditto ingredients to find the right recipe for the best Dominican chocolate” Jan Kruiver adds “Creating chocolate is like art, every step of the way is relevant. The QChoc’s transparent covers allow monitoring of every step in the development and samples can be taken at any time.