How Chocolate is Produced?

Chocolate is a sweet treat made from cocoa beans. It is one of the most popular sweet treats in the world. According to the World Cocoa Foundation, people around the world consume more than 3 million tons of cocoa beans a year. Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk, and white varieties. Not only does eating chocolate make you feel good, it also good for your heart and your brain. Chocolate is believed to contain a high level of antioxidants. It also could lower cholesterol levels and prevent memory decline. Have you ever wondered, how this delicious and healthy treat is produced?

First, chocolate comes from the cacao tree, which is formally known as Theobroma cacao and grown in South America, Africa, and Indonesia. It takes five or six months for the cacao pods to ripen from the pollinated flowers of the cacao tree. Once the cacao pods are ripe and red, they are harvested by hand. After that, white cocoa beans are removed from the pods. In average, one pod contains around 40 white cocoa beans. All of the beans are fermented to change the bitter flavors in the beans into something more edible. In this process, the color of the bean changes from white to dark brown. After fermentation, the beans are dried in the sun for about a week. During this time, the flavor continues to develop. Next, dried beans are placed into large sacks and delivered to the factory by train or lorry. In the factory, cocoa beans are roasted in large ovens at a temperature of 350 degree Celsius for about two hours to enhance flavor and aroma, reduce acidity, lower their moisture content, and darken the beans. After that, roasted beans are crushed. Their outer shells are cracked and blown away, leaving the crushed and broken pieces of cacao beans called nibs. In the last stage, the inner part is pressed and the liquid chocolate is produced. Cocoa and chocolate bars we’ve enjoyed are made from this liquid chocolate.