What is chocolate?

It takes only seconds to swallow a piece of chocolate, but chocolate production takes a long time.

To begin with…

.. chocolate is made from special beans. These beans grow on a tropical tree called Theobroma cacao. Another name is the cocoa tree. The fruits grow straight from the branches.
When the fruit is ripe, farmers collect it. They usually use a machete to cut the fruit from the trees.

Then…

.. the farmers ferment the beans. They place the beans in special bins or under banana leaves to ferment. During this process, the beans become less bitter.
After fermentation, the beans are dried in the sun for days at a time. The taste is still developing.
After drying the beans are transported to a factory.

There…

.. the beans are cleaned. You have to ensure that there are no twigs or stones or any other debris amongst the beans!

Following this…

.. the beans are roasted. The taste improves and they become darker during the process.

Next…

.. the beans must be cracked and the shell removed. Once this is done, the beans are small pieces. These are tasty but still bitter.

Next steps…

.. the small pieces have to be mashed into a paste and then ingredients such as sugar, cocoa butter, milk or vanilla have to be added depending on the recipe.
As the chocolate is not smooth, it has to be put through a special machine that mixes it.

Then…

..the chocolate is cooled ... then heated ... then cooled ... then heated ... and so on until it is smooth and looks good. This is the process of tempering the chocolate.

Finally…

The chocolate is put into a mould and cooled. Then, when it's ready, it's removed from the mould and, once packaged, it's sold to people like you!

Yes, it is a long process!

Glossary

Ingredient

An ingredient is a substance or matter that forms part of a mixture.

Fermentation

a process where bacteria and yeast create chemical changes in cocoa beans, improving the smell and taste

Shell

The outer protective case e.g., nut, egg.

Temper chocolate

The process of heating and cooling the chocolate slowly to create the ‘snap’.

Theobroma cacao

a small evergreen tree native to deep tropical regions.

Bwlch y Graig

Dinbych

Sir Ddinbych

20/11/2020

Dear Catherine,

Did you know that there are over 2 million children and young people working on cocoa farms today?

Most are aged between 12 and 16 although some as young as 5 also work there. Some climb the trees to cut the fruit off with a machete, with no safety gloves. They split the pods open.

Some pack and others carry heavy sacks. Some use chainsaws to cut trees without safety clothing. Some spray weedkiller on the land, inhaling the chemicals, since they don’t have a mask to cover their mouths and noses. All this to make sure we get chocolate... or a big bar of chocolate... or a box of chocolates on our birthday or in our Christmas stockings this year!

Have you ever considered the impact the chocolates we eat have on the environment? As our appetite for chocolate increases, the cocoa farms grow bigger, so more and more land is being used for cocoa production. As a result large areas are cleared, including parts of the rainforests, to make way for more and more trees... and more and more cocoa... and more and more chocolate! This, of course, threatens the biodiversity of these areas and chemicals ruin the land and poison the water.

Where will you buy your chocolates this year? In a chocolate shop... on the web... or maybe in a supermarket – wherever they are cheapest probably!

But remember, the price of the chocolate will be high wherever you buy it!

Yours sincerely

Cai

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