I guess it's hard to imagine life without chocolate in every possible form: the "classic" one, drinking cocoa, cocoa breakfast cereals and a thousand other forms. Cocoa-based products are inextricably linked to our daily routine.
However, are we aware of what cocoa production looks like before it goes to chocolate producers?
Inconspicuous cocoa
Cocoa is the most important ingredient in chocolate. It is obtained from cocoa beans. It is a small shrub with a cinnamon color and characteristic long and leathery leaves. An interesting fact is that the cocoa flowers grow not from the branches, but directly from the trunk and branches!
And what seeds are the most valuable? Undoubtedly, the ones that look like cucumber-shaped oval berries. However, before you can obtain the precious powder from them, you need a lot of effort.
Where is it even growing?
Cocoa is a plant that blooms and bears fruit all year round. Its production takes place only in tropical regions along the equator, where the climate is constantly warm and humid. Most, as much as 70% of all cocoa resources, comes from Africa, and more precisely from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. The remaining cocoa producers include Indonesia, Brazil and Ecuador.
90% of the cocoa produced in the world comes from small family farms ranging from 1 to 5 hectares. Only 5% of the world's production of this raw material is obtained from large plantations (with an area of 40 ha). 40-50 million people worldwide live from cocoa cultivation. In Ghana, cocoa production is the primary source of livelihood for 90% of farmers.
Hard physical work
Even today, much of the work related to the extraction of cocoa beans is done by hand. Large cocoa pods are usually cut down with machetes to obtain seeds. In order to be able to produce half a kilogram of cocoa, you need an annual harvest from one bush. As they mature continuously at different times, farmers must constantly monitor their crops.
Cocoa bushes are very sensitive to any changes in the weather, pests and diseases. Here, too, farmers must show considerable commitment to be able to enjoy a bountiful harvest. Cocoa seeds do not go into the grinding process immediately after harvesting. After hulling them, they are fermented and dried. Only then can they be cleaned, packed and sold to intermediaries.
It is the intermediaries who most often export bags of cocoa beans to the countries of the global North, where they are processed into cocoa mass. It is also not such a quick process: the beans are dehulled, crushed, roasted and ground. Only then can the resulting cocoa mass be used to produce chocolate, cocoa butter or loose cocoa.
Cacao tree has many names
There are many varieties of cocoa beans. One of the most commonly grown varieties on certified farms is Forastero, usually used for the production of milk chocolate. Criollo and Trinitario are also quite popular types of cocoa. Cocoa dairy products produced with their use are characterized by a very delicate taste.
Western Europe imports about 40% of the world's cocoa stock. One of the leading importers (since the second half of the 1990s) is Poland. As shown by statistical data, both in Poland and in Europe, the consumption and production of sweets and chocolate is constantly increasing.
A long way from growing to eating
As you can see, the raw material from which our favorite chocolates, bars and sweets are made must go a long way before it reaches the store shelves in its final form. Cocoa production, as well as the confectionery industry as a whole, is a huge part of the global industry and is constantly growing in strength. This is influenced by consumers. After all, people all over the world love chocolate.
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