Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How are cacao pods opened during the cocoa harvest?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
cocoa
Cocoa beans.
During the cocoa harvest, ripe seed pods are cut from the cacao trees and split open using machetes. Once the pods are opened, the beans are removed along with their surrounding pulp to begin the fermentation process.12