Tolling Services
Technical Brief
Comprehensive specifications for Meridian's three-stage cocoa bean processing pipeline. All services are delivered under ISO 22000 and HACCP protocols.
Cleaning
Sieves · Magnets · Debris removal
Roasting
110–130°C · 15–45 min · Aroma development
Cracking & Winnowing
Shell separation · Nib extraction
Cocoa Nibs
Pure inner bean · Base for all products
Alkalization
Optional · Dutching · pH adjustment
Grinding & Liquor
Cocoa mass · Butter · Press cake
Optical, Gravimetric & Spectrometric
Precision Sorting & Grading
Before any thermal processing begins, incoming bean lots undergo a rigorous multi-stage sorting protocol designed to eliminate physical defects, calibrate moisture content, and classify beans by grade. This stage forms the quality foundation of every subsequent processing operation.
Primary Screening
Rotary drum sieves separate oversized debris, broken pieces, and undersized beans. Three screen grades (10mm, 6mm, 3mm) produce a classified bean stream free of large foreign material.
Optical Colour Sorting
Industrial-grade EU optical sorting equipment inspects beans at high throughput using multi-spectral cameras and AI-assisted defect recognition. Mouldy, infested, germinated, and discoloured beans are rejected via high-speed pneumatic ejection.
NIR Moisture Analysis
EU-manufactured Near-Infrared (NIR) process analyser measures moisture content to ± 0.2% accuracy with real-time digital data logging. Any lot exceeding 7.5% moisture is quarantined pending re-drying.
Metal Detection
Industrial EU metal detection systems identify ferrous, non-ferrous, and stainless contaminants at sub-2mm sensitivity. All beans passing this Critical Control Point (CCP) are digitally logged and cleared for roasting.
Client-Configured Thermal Processing
Profile-Controlled Indirect Roasting
Roasting is the stage where Meridian's tolling model delivers the highest value to EU clients. Unlike commodity roasters who apply standardised profiles, Meridian stores, validates, and locks client-submitted roasting profiles — ensuring your flavour development targets are reproducibly met across every production batch.
Profile Submission
Clients submit roasting profile templates including entry temperature, peak temperature, hold time, and cooling curve specification. Profiles are validated by our process engineers and locked in our SCADA system.
Drum Pre-Heating
Indirect-heat roasting drums sourced from a leading EU equipment manufacturer are pre-heated to the profile entry temperature via digitally controlled thermal circuits. No direct-flame contact with beans eliminates combustion product contamination risk.
Roasting Cycle
Temperature and drum speed are monitored and recorded in real-time. Any deviation beyond ± 2°C from profile triggers an alert and batch suspension pending review.
Controlled Cooling
Post-roast cooling follows the client-specified curve. Beans enter sealed transfer lines and do not contact ambient air until moisture equilibrium is achieved.
Liquor, Butter & Press Cake Production
Industrial Grinding & Pressing
Post-roasting, beans enter our two-stage milling line. Pre-grinding reduces nib fragments to an intermediate particle size before ball mill refining achieves the micron fineness specification required for cocoa liquor production. Optional hydraulic pressing produces cocoa butter and press cake for clients requiring semi-processed intermediates.
Pre-Grinding
EU-manufactured industrial pre-grinders reduce roasted nib pieces to a 200–400 micron intermediate particle size. Inline temperature sensors maintain liquor temperature below 55°C to preserve volatile aromatics.
Ball Mill Refining
Cascade ball mills refine liquor to <25 micron target fineness. Particle size distribution verified by laser diffraction analysis per lot.
Cocoa Butter Pressing
50-tonne hydraulic press extracts 44–48% cocoa butter by weight from liquor. Expressed butter is filtered and collected in heated tankers for separate packaging.
Press Cake Handling
Residual press cake (10–12% fat) is cooled, granulated, and packaged in bulk sacks or kraft paper bags per client specification.
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