How Chocolate is made
The Geography of Chocolate
Chocolate Economy
Coffee, Tea, Wine and Chocolate
Chocolate Health
Dark, Milk and White Chocolates
Fair Trade Chocolate
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Where It's Grown, Where It's Made, Where It's Eaten
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A great deal of the world's chocolate is grown in small, family farms of only a few hundred trees. Chocolate's growth habitat requires a cover of larger trees in addition to a warm, damp climate. Although Europeans have long tried to establish cacao plantations, planting only cacao fast depletes the soil. Cacao, as well as being one of the world's most amazing foods, is also a model for reformative agriculture. It needs shade, and works best when planted as an understory for taller trees such as rosewood, teak, spice or cashews.
Avoiding monoculture by diversificatin is an important way of keeping any farm economically viable: when one crop is beset by disease or bad weather, there are others to fall back on. Cacao also functions best when dealt with organically, as the insects that pollinate the cacao blossoms are vital to the success of the plant. Because each tree only produces around 2 pounds of beans in a fine year, and because trees don't begin to produce fruit until they reach five or six years of age, chocolate isn't a short term crop, but must be farmed with patience and an eye to the future.
Where Chocolate is Manufactured
Most people can easily name the largest chocolate companies in the world-Hershey, Nestle, Mars, Lindt-to name a few, but did you know there are 18 large chocolate manufacturers in Switzerland alone, and that Switzerland only produces 5% of the world's chocolate? In fact, a recent foray into chocolate company research showed the majority of listed chocolate manufacturers to be located in the United States-more than 20 large operations! Other countries where chocolate is made include Italy, France, Belgium, Australia, Turkey,Germany, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.Where Chocolate is Eaten
When you look at graphs of chocolate consumption, the picture is very clear: chocolate is farmed on the equator, but people living in equatorial regions eat very little of it compared to those living in more northerly latitudes. There are probably several reasons for this conundrum: economics may be a factor, since it's the wealthier countries that consume the most; or perhaps it's because while chocolate trees grow beautifully in tropical climes, chocolate as a confection can't stand the heat: chocolate is harvested and the beans fermented at the farm, then shipped north for manufacturing. Or perhaps there's something genetic in the northern addiction to chocolate: in northern climates, people tend to eat more fats, which keep them warm. If you've ever noticed your appetite diminishing in the hot days of summer or when you've vacationed somewhere warm, you've felt your body reacting to the heat by needing less nourishment. (World famous health and diet spas are often found in hot places: the pounds just "melt" away!)Per Capita Chocolate Consumption (in kg) in Selected Global Markets - 2005
| Switzerland | 10.3 |
| UK | 8.4 |
| Belgium | 6.8 |
| U.S. | 5.5 |
| Japan | 1.8 |
| South Korea | 1.3 |
| Brazil | .9 |
| China | .7 |