8 Things You Didn't Know About Chocolate

Swiss, Belgian, Dutch. Ecuadorian, Columbian, Ugandan. Where does chocolate even come from? What is fair trade chocolate? What does it mean if its Dutch processed cocoa? How is cocoa different from cacao? And what the heck is a nib?

#1: Cacao is the pod and seeds

Cacao is the raw, plant form of chocolate and is harvested from a cacao tree. The tree’s scientific name is Theobroma cacao which translates to “food of the gods” in Greek. Theobromine, a stimulant, is one of the molecules in cacao that gives you energy, similar to caffeine. Ancient Mayan civilizations would provide cacao seeds to their warriors to keep them alert for fighting.

Cacao trees prefer warm, dark growing conditions and thrive in the Amazon, where the plant originates. World wide, cacao trees generally grow well within 15 degrees north or south of the equator. Early conquerors of the Americas transplanted cacao trees to Africa and later southeast Asia where the climate better suited the crop.

The cacao tree matures in about four to six years. Flowering is a sign of reaching maturity, and once they begin flowering, they will do so year round. These flowers grow into cacao pods, and after five months of growth, the pods are ready to harvest. They are almost (American) football-sized at this time.

Cacao pods grow at the base of the cacao tree and come in many resplendent colors like red, yellow, green, and purple, to attract animals that will spread its seeds. They are harvested by hand with the help of machetes. Many of the laborers harvesting cacao are children, but fair trade chocolate organizations are trying to stop this practice.

Once cacao pods are gathered by laborers, they are brought to a local processing house and split open to reveal pods covered in a sweet, tart, and juicy white pulp. The pulp and seeds they cover are pulled out of the pod and set on a tarp under banana leaves to ferment outside for one week. The pulp is then removed and the remaining seeds are uncovered and set in the sun to dry for another week.

The fermented and dried seeds are next shipped to chocolate factories in developed countries to be processed further. The insides of the seeds contain cacao nibs that can be pressed into various chocolate products.

#2: Cacao trees are indigenous to South America

Cacao trees originated in the Amazon Rainforest, likely 15,000 years ago. However, it did not emerge in the human diet until around 3,000 years ago when the Olmec civilization began developing its complex processing. They would ferment, dry, and grind the seeds into a powder to combine with pulverized maize, chiles, and water for consumption as an opulent beverage called xocolatl. Yet, the Olmecs lived in southern Mexico, approximately 2,600 miles away from the Amazon Rainforest. Thus cacao must have traveled through some means to reach the ancient Olmecs. Since the cacao tree grows best within 15 degrees of the equator, it likely came to the Olmecs by human hands rather than natural pollination.

#3: Cacao was brought to Europe by Spanish conquistadors

On his trips to the Americas, Christopher Columbus encountered people native to the Indies called the Taino. Upon conquering these people, one encounter describes how Columbus’ crew discovered dried cacao seeds which the Taino seemed to value greatly. Unbeknownst to the conquistadors, cacao seeds were used as currency for the Taino, Mayans, and Aztecs. Later seeing the potential value in these seeds (perhaps money could grow on trees…?), Columbus returned to Spain with them. But the bitter taste did not impress the Spaniards.

Twenty years later, Hernan Cortes would conquer the Aztec empire whose last emperor, Montezuma II, allegedly drank gallons of the invigorating cacao beverage called xocolatl (pronounced sho-ko-lah-tul) every day. In contrast to Columbus’ experience, Cortes and his conquistadors welcomed this xocolatl beverage by adding honey or sugar to it to make it more drinkable. This time, cacao’s return to Spain would be better received.

For one hundred years, Spain would keep its chocolate a national secret while it built up plantations throughout Central and South America. However, cacao, being more inclined to the chaotic jungle floor, did not thrive in large plantations and swiftly fell prey to disease. Even today, between 30-50% of the world’s cacao is unusable due to disease.

Cacao made its popular European debut in the mid 17th century when Spanish princess, Maria Teresa wed King Louis XIV of France, introducing her beloved chocolate drink to the French court. At this time, chocolate was still primarily consumed as a beverage. The fermented and dried beans from the Americas were ground up and mixed with water, sugar, and spices.

#4: Dutch processed cocoa has been alkalized

As chocolate exploded throughout Europe, chocolate experts began to emerge. The 1800s were an important and bustling time for chocolate’s transformation into the delightful bars recognized today. The standard procedure for making chocolate was to ferment and dry the cacao seeds, and then grind them to be mixed with water. However, this ground up mixture of cacao seeds (also known as cacao mass) was gritty and did not dissolve easily in water. Coenraad Johannes van Houten, a Dutch chemist with an interest in chocolate, found that treating the cacao mass with alkaline salts allowed them to dissolve more easily. Cacao is naturally acidic, and alkalizing it brought it to a neutral pH. Thus, Dutch processed chocolate was born.

Recipes that call for natural cocoa differ from those that call for Dutched cocoa, and they will react differently to leavening agents such as baking soda and powder.

van Houten is also credited with inventing the chocolate press. Every cacao pod contains around 70 seeds. After the seeds have fermented in pulp and dried, the seeds are sent to the processor. The seeds contain cacao nibs which are gritty to eat and contain both cocoa butter and cocoa mass. van Houten’s chocolate press was able to push the creamy cacao butter out of the nibs and retain the powdery cocoa mass that is what people use today in baking. Cocoa butter can be reintroduced into the mass with dairy and sugar to create all sorts of chocolatey treats, or it can be utilized in cosmetics.

#5: Lindt & Nestle were scientists who advanced chocolate processing

By the late 19th century, chocolate transformed again through Rodolphe Lindt’s conching invention. The Swiss inventor developed the machine to better incorporate and distribute cocoa butter with cocoa powder through heating and grinding.

Anecdotes from the Lindt & Sprungli company suggest Lindt accidentally left the machine on overnight. The result was a silky chocolate product with better melting properties and very smooth texture. Today high quality chocolate is conched for around 72 hours while lower quality chocolate is conched for around six hours.

Around the same time the chocolate conch entered the scene, another Swiss chocolate enthusiast, Daniel Peter, sought out the help of his neighbor, a specialist in dairy and infant formulas, to stabilize the introduction of milk into chocolate. The neighbor and specialist was Henri Nestle, who was working on producing infant formula to supplement mother’s milk from cow’s milk. Together, Peter and Nestle created the original Swiss milk chocolate by combining dried milk powder with cocoa butter, mass, and sugar and established the Nestle company.

#6: Fair trade chocolate focuses on labor rights where cacao grows

As early as the 1600s when chocolate finally made its way to the first coffee house in London, there were those who were uneasy about the ethics of the crop. Quakers of the time were the largest proponents of raising standards for laborers involved in cacao.

African slaves were brought to the West Indies and the Americas to work on cacao plantations. By the mid-1800s, though, many chocolate manufacturers were forced to source their cacao more ethically.

Problems still exist today, however, especially in Cote d’Iviore in western Africa, where cacao trees have made a second home after the Amazon. Child laborers aged 10-15 work to collect cacao pods and deliver them to local processing houses rather than attend school. Female laborers are paid less than male laborers in these developing countries where the cacao tree thrives best.

Nestle, Mars, and Hershey, all big hitters in the chocolate industry, cannot guarantee that their chocolate does not contain child labor in its supply chain. Despite having certifications for their ethical processes, it is very difficult to trace every bean from every farm.

Purchasing fair trade certified chocolate used to mean consumer dollars were spent on ensuring children were not involved in labor, women were paid equally to men, and cacao farms were tended to sustainably with minimal environmental impact and deforestation. However, these certifications have become diluted, corrupted, and easy to obtain.

Valrohna and Guittard Chocolate are some of the better-known chocolate manufacturers to be commended for their compliance and effort in ending unethical chocolate. Unfortunately, the majority of larger chocolate corporations may be certified for the purpose of good press but do little to change the situation and continue sourcing unethical chocolate.

#7: There are three main types of cacao

There are actually 22 varieties, but the main ones are Criollo, Forastero, and Trinatario. Similar to grapes which can produce such different wines as pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon from the same species of grape, cacao varieties possess different flavor profiles, too. Criollo is the most coveted and rare, producing mild, non-acidic, and chocolatey flavors. Forastero is the most common and inexpensive cacao with a slightly acidic taste. Trinatario is a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero. Good quality chocolate will often come from Trinatario beans, but the best will be pure Criollo or a combination of the two. There is another variety that, similar to Criollo, is extremely rare and highly coveted but is not mass produced, and that is Nacional cacao. Long thought extinct, Nacional is the original cacao that all others stem from and is found in Ecuador and Peru. Forastero cacao makes up the largest percentage of the cacao market because it is the most resistant to disease. It is Forastero cacao that traveled to the Ivory Coast of Africa to yield the chocolate advertised as Ugandan or Ghanan.

#8: M&Ms were the result of friendly competition

M&Ms, the name, is actually an abbreviation for Mars and Murrie. Forest Mars, Sr., son of Mars Chocolate founder, Frank Mars, and Bruce Murrie, son of William Murrie, president of Hershey’s Company at the time, joined forces during World War II to provide a stimulating, heat-resistant, easily transportable chocolate ration for American soldiers. Mars patented the idea, but Hershey had control of chocolate rations in the 1940s, and so the two teamed up. Soldiers were issued M&Ms exclusively during this time.