Harvest
It takes about 5-6 months for a pod to develop. Everything starts with the pretty little cacao tree flower (see picture). Because the tree is growing so close to the equator, cacao pods can be harvested over the whole year. But the thriving pods on the trees are not all ripe at the same time. This means for the farmers, that they have to harvest every couple of weeks over a period of several months.
Finally when the crop is ripe, the pods are carefully cut off the tree with a machete or a knife.Each pod contains a white fruit pulp, also called mucilage (yummy), and 30-40 beans. The fruit pulp covers the beans.