Grower believes B’ville cocoa ‘the best’

By JASON DOM
FARMER Delwin Ketsian is putting her reputation on her claim that Bougainville cocoa has the best flavour in the world.
That, she said, is why Bougainville will host the chocolate festival at the end of the month and expect to attrack hundreds of chocolate-makers from around the world.
“I have followed the footsteps of my parents on cocoa farming and found that many different products can be produced out of cocoa alone,” Ketsian, from Arob, in Central Bougainville, said.
“As a woman I always believe in being creative and doing things, which is why I asked my plantation manager to give me the best dried beans.
“I used a grinder to crush the nuts to make cocoa powder then I realised that a lot of sweet products are created out of it, so I decided to hit the internet to find recipes.”
Ketsian said that with tips and hints found on the web “I managed to bake cakes, chocolates, and candies”. She also made cocoa butter.
She said that some of the products she created impressed people, “like the chocolate and milkshake, so I utilised my cocoa products at my small resort back at home”.
Ketsian was one 25 businesswomen who displayed products at the Apec SME exhibition at the International Convention Centre, in Port Moresby.
Bougainville virgin coconut oil-maker Genevieve Sikota, who’s also from Bougainville, was also there.
“I started producing my coconut oil back in 2013 when I attended a women’s training course back home, in which they taught us how to extract coconut oil,” Sikota said.
“I have no idea at first.
All I knew was that during the Bougainville crisis our men used coconut oil to fuel their vehicles,” Sikota said.
“But after the course I went back, gathered my family and started making virgin coconut oil, which we sell at our arts and crafts markets and at schools.