Chocolate Production

The cocoa or cacao tree is an evergreen that can be found all through the equatorial belt (within 20 degrees north or south) where the average temperature is 80°F(26°C) and humidity is high, in areas including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Trinidad, and the Ivory Coast. The trees can grow taller but in most plantations are kept to about 25 feet (7 m 50 cm) in height. Like the trees of the citrus family, cocoa trees bear buds, blossoms, and fruit all at the same time. Each tree produces about 30 oblong fruits or pods, which, unlike other types of fruit, grow directly on the trunk and branches. Each pod is 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long, 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) in diameter, and contains anywhere from 20 to 50 beans, 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length, embedded in the fleshy interior. The majority of the world crop of cocoa beans (which averages 2 million tons annually) comes from Africa. The largest African producer is by far is Côte d’Ivoire, where the Forastero bean is cultivated; Ghana is a distant second.