EditorsEver wondered how is chocolate made? Here’s the story of chocolate from bean to bar – a guide.
Who can resist the seductive lure of chocolate? The food of the gods, instigator of passions, comfort food – chocolate can inspire poetry. The story of chocolate, one of the oldest cultivated plants, is as rousing. Cocoa originated in the Amazon basin in South America and indigenous tribes believed that god planted it. Cocoa beans were so highly prized that they were used as currency until the 1800s.
Cocoa comes from cacao trees that grow best in the partial shade of the large rainforest trees. As the cacao trees are happy to grow in the partial shade, the rainforest does not need to be destroyed and sustainability is the key. The rarest are Criollo beans, hotly sought after by the chocolate makers for their aroma and delicacy. This infographic from our friends at Rainforest Alliance, who work with farmers to help them grow cocoa efficiently while protecting forests, succinctly captures the history of chocolate and the journey from bean to bar.
A Cocoa Farmer’s Story
Meet farmer Adrien Kouadio, a man who owns cocoa farm in Paul Kru, Côte d’Ivoire. The cheerful farmer nurtures his land, leads his community and lives for football. For Kouadio, cocoa cultivation is a way of life intertwined with family traditions. Most of the world’s cocoa is grown by farmers like him on small plots of land throughout West Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. The five million smallholder cocoa farmers are also contending with the effects of climate change like hotter temperatures, unpredictable rainfall and a shift in growing seasons.
A Visit to the Queen
In this heart-warming video, you see that Adrien Kouadio’s family has been farming cocoa for generations. Yet like many cocoa farmers, he has never tasted the velvety sweetness of the finished product. Follow his delightful journey from his farm in the village of Paul Kru, Cote d’Ivoire, to a chocolate processing plant and finally to a supermarket in London.
Happy International Chocolate Day – though given our love for chocolates at Ecophiles, we’d love for every day to be chocolate day!
