COCOA FAST FACTS
- The beans are sometimes referred to as cacao and also as cocoa
- Latin name is Theobroma cacao
- Cocoa originated in the rainforests of Central and South America
- Now grown in tropical regions of West and Central Africa, South and Central
America, and the Caribbean
- Each cocoa pod contains 30 to 40 beans
- Pods grow on the tree trunk and lower branches of the cocoa tree usually under a canopy of tall rainforest trees
- Beans are fermented for several days, and then dried. Most are then exported for further processing
- Cocoa butter is used both in chocolate and cosmetics – produced by roasting,grounding, and pressing the dried beans
- The name "chocolate" comes from "chocolatl", an Aztec word
FAIR TRADE FAST FACTS
Fair trade means:
- A Fair Price – Farmers and workers receive a fair price for their hard work. This price means that farmers can keep farming, feed their families and that their children can go to school instead of working in the fields.
- Care for the Environment – Most Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, and chocolate in the US is certified organic and shade-grown. This helps maintain important biodiversity, providing shelter for migratory birds, and prevent pollution.
- Quality – Fair Trade farmers rely on traditional farming methods and also benefit from support for technical improvements to help their quality and crop yield
- Community Impact – Fair Trade cooperatives have invested the premium gained through Fair Trade in health care, education of children, community food security programs, and technical assistance for cooperative members.
- You can make a difference by looking for the label!
International Fair Trade Symbol
US Fair Trade Symbol
EconoMICS of Cocoa
Number of cocoa farmers, worldwide: 5-6 million
Number of people who depend upon cocoa for their livelihood, worldwide: 40-50 million
Annual cocoa production, worldwide: 3 million tons
Annual increase in demand for cocoa: 3 percent per year, for the past 100 years
Current global market value of annual cocoa crop: $5.1 billion
Cocoa growing regions: Africa, Asia, Central America, South America (all within 20 degrees of the equator)
Percentage of cocoa that comes from West Africa: 70 percent
Length of time required for a cocoa tree to produce its first beans (pods): five years
Duration of “peak growing period” for the average cocoa tree: 10 years
West African economies are critically dependent on cocoa. Cocoa revenues account for more than 33% of Ghana's total export earnings and 40% of the Ivory Coast's total export earnings.
90% of the world's cocoa is grown on small family farms of 12 acres or less.
The US State Department's year 2000 Human Rights Report acknowledged that some 15,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 have been sold into forced labor on cotton, coffee and cocoa plantations in one country in recent years.
CACAO OR COCOA
Cacao refers to the pod (cacao pods), the beans within (cacao beans), and the pure paste of the bean (cacao paste or cacao "liquor").
Cocoa is the powder made from the cacao bean, which is mashed into a paste then pounded to extract the cocoa butter and pulverized into a dry powder.
--from The Great Book of Chocolate
1. Chocolate is one of the most popular foods around and is highly unlikely to ever go out of fashion.
2. The word 'Chocolate' comes from the Aztec word, 'cacahuatl' or 'xocolatl'. This means 'bitter water'.
3. Chocolate is derived from Cocoa Beans. It was Cacao originally, but became Cocoa as a result of misspelling.
4. Cocoa Trees require warm, moist climates and are largely found in West Africa - Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. The scientific term for the Cocoa Tree is 'Theobroma Cacao'. This is the Greek term for 'Food for the Gods'.
5. Cocoa Trees produce pods and each pod contains about 20 to 50 Cocoa Beans. There are different varieties of Cocoa Beans with different flavors, and, just like different grapes are used to make different wines, different Cocoa Beans are used to make different kinds of chocolates. Cocoa Beans are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground before being used to produce chocolate.
6. The Mayans and Aztecs believed that the Cocoa Beans originated from Paradise and would bring wisdom and power to anyone consuming them.
7. The Aztecs mixed chocolate with chilies, cornmeal, and Hallucinogenic Mushroom. It was a bitter brew!
8. The precious Cocoa Beans were used as a currency and as a unit of calculation in the Mayan and Aztec Cultures.
9. However the amount of caffeine in chocolate is very little - about 5 to 10 milligrams of caffeine in one ounce of bittersweet chocolate, 5 milligrams in milk chocolate, and 10 milligrams in a six-ounce cup of cocoa. Compare this to 100-150 milligrams found in a cup of coffee.
10. Theobromine helps boost low blood-sugar levels and another chemical, Chromium, helps to control blood sugar.
11. Theobromine, however, is highly toxic to dogs, cats, and other household pets. It over stimulates their cardiac and nervous systems, and can cause instant death.
12. For humans though, chocolate is a wonderful energy source. Napoleon supposedly carried along chocolate on his military campaigns, and always ate it to restore energy. Nowadays Sports-persons are often given chocolate energy bars after sporting activities to restore carbohydrates.
13. Even though chocolate is high in fat, it does not appear to raise blood cholesterol.
14. Despite the popular, lingering myth, chocolate does not cause acne. Acne is usually due to an improper diet or a hormone imbalance.
15. Also, contrary to another popular myth, chocolates are not responsible for causing headaches. Headaches, again, have different reasons - stress, hunger, irregular sleep patterns, and hormone changes.
16. Allergies to chocolate are very uncommon.
17. Cocoa butter, which is the fat extract from roasted and crushed cocoa beans, is often used as a massage cream.
18. It is also used to make white, caffeine-less chocolate.
19. Cocoa Beans were first brought to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors in 1528.
20. Chocolate soon became very popular and was taken as a sweet drink with sugar and vanilla.
21. Henri Nestle of Switzerland was the first to create milk chocolate by adding condensed milk to the mixture when making chocolate bars.
22. Rudolphe Lindt of Switzerland in 1879 was the first to develop a method to give chocolate a smooth consistency.
23. Chocolate has over 500 flavor components. This is double the amount found in strawberry and vanilla.
24. Chocolate is a great economy booster. Annual world consumption of cocoa beans averages approximately 600,000 tons per year. Consumers worldwide spend more than $20 billion a year on chocolate.
25. Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "Psycho". This scene, which is of 45 seconds, actually took 7 days to shoot.
26. Chocolate appears in literature - 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl, 'Like Water for Chocolate' by Laura Esquivel, and 'Chocolat' by Joanne Harris.