THE COCOA TREE

Cocoa comes from the cocoa tree, a tropical plant that grows well in warm, humid climates. This tree, which can grow taller than 10m and can live for more than 50 years, produces cocoa pods which contain the cocoa beans used to make cocoa mass and butter, which is used to make chocolate. Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-78) gave the cocoa tree its scientific name, Theobroma cacao, which means “food of the gods”. You’ll probably agree that chocolate’s deliciousness makes it a food of the highest order!

PRODUCERS

The cocoa tree originally grew in the Amazon basin and other tropical regions of South America but has since been introduced in many parts of the world. All the countries where cocoa trees are grown today are close to the equator where it’s almost constantly warm and humid.

These countries include Ecuador and Brazil in South America and Ivory Coast and Ghana in West Africa. Africa supplies about 70% of all cocoa beans. Cocoa is also cultivated in Asia, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia.

FRUIT

The cocoa tree flowers throughout the year so it can have blooms and ripe and green fruit all at the same time. The tree’s fruit looks like a long squash or pod.

When the fruit is ripe the pod makes a deep, hollow sound when you tap it. Then it’s ready to be picked. The cocoa beans inside the pod are the sought-after part of the plant. Each fruit contains 20 to 40 seeds (beans) of about 1g each. The beans are found inside the fruit’s pulp. A cocoa tree can produce 1-2kg of beans a year.