Cocoa humanities

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Nov 24, 2024

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Cocoa The modern word “chocolate” stems from two words in Nahuatl (the language spoken by many native groups) chocolatl, which translated “hot water,” and cacahuatl, which referred to a bitter beverage made with cocoa that was shared during religious ceremonies. The cacao bean was so significant to many local cultures that it was used as a currency in trade, given to warriors as a post battle reward, and served at royal feasts. The uniqueness of chocolate was ultimately increased by the onset of the Industrial Revolution, when steam-powered machines made the production of cocoa powder considerably quicker and more affordable. Solid chocolate hit the market and found wild success by 1850, due to the discovery by Joseph Fry that adding cacao butter to the cocoa powder formed a solid mass. Sixty years later, the art of creating chocolate confections with flavored filling referred to as pralines went public. From there, the chocolate and cocoa industry exploded in popularity and quickly spread around the world. Top 10 Cocoa Bean Producing Countries 1. Ivory Coast 2. Ghana 3. Indonesia 4. Nigeria 5. Cameroon 6. Brazil 7. Ecuador 8. Mexico 9. Peru 10. Dominican Republic Top 10 cocoa importing countries 1. United States 2. Germany 3. France 4. United Kingdom 5. Netherlands 6. Canada 7. Belgium: 8. Poland 9. Spain 10. Japan

Main uses of cocoa 1. Cocoa liquor 2. Cocoa powder 3. Cocoa butter 4. Cocoa husk What jobs are created by cocoa? Cacao farmer Most cacao farmers work outside the U.S. in countries like the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Brazil, Ghana, and Malaysia. Cacao farming is a labor-intensive process which includes Growing, harvesting. Fermenting and marketing the cocoa beans. Chocolate sculptors Out of blocks of chocolate a sculptor carves and designs chocolate to be anything from Easter bunnies on the beach, beautiful white chocolate orchids, miniature houses, and skyscrapers. Sommelier A sommelier assists diners in choosing the right wine to pair with their dinner. A chocolate sommelier matches chocolates to wines and to people’s tastes. Chocolatier Chocolatier is a person who creates recipes and directs plans for production, to the assistant who chops fruits and measures raw chocolate and other ingredients. Some work as part of a team of pastry chefs in a hotel or major restaurants, others work for small shops. The chocolatier develops new recipes, teaches classes to clients, including business owners, and troubleshoots with customers, which include major food makers. Environmental impacts Cocoa often does not have a negative impact on the environment but instead when grown properly, can play a positive role in protecting the tropical ecosystem. The cocoa trees grow best under the shaded canopy of mature rainforest trees meaning that logging and cutting down the rainforest to make room for cocoa farms is not required. Cocoa farms also provide safe, nurturing homes to many different types of animals but these positive impacts don’t always occur automatically. The World Cocoa Foundation is required to support efforts to ensure the protection and enhancement of the environment that cocoa farmers grow their crops. There are WCF programs in place to assist farmers in selecting effective and minimal impact pest control methods. Also, education is provided to the farmers informing them that

there is no need to ‘clear cut’ the land as cocoa trees are able to grow within existing forests. Another way that cocoa farmers are able to grow their cocoa crops economically is by growing them alongside other crops and forest trees to protect the environment, What make cocoa more expensive What makes cocoa more expensive 1. Supply 2. Climate 3. Production Cycle 4. Infrastructure and Transportation 5. Consumer Preferences 6. British Pound Supply The supply of cocoa is heavily concentrated geographically. Over 60% of global production comes from a few countries in Western Africa with the Ivory Coast being the largest grower. Cocoa prices can experience wide swings as a result of news from this region. Political and civil unrest and labor disputes can create supply bottlenecks that lead to sharp rises in prices. The Ivory Coast, for example, has experienced political corruption and instability since declaring its independence. A rise in political tensions in this country could severely hamper cocoa supply. Climate Cacao pods require a mix of wet weather and sunshine to ripen. Each stage of the five-year process from planting to fruit production requires ideal weather conditions. Episodes of long drought conditions or heavy rains can cause the pods to dry out or rot. Since weather determines the yield of the crop, it can have a major impact on cocoa prices. Production Cycle The production cycle from cocoa planting to harvesting is a multi-year endeavor. Farmers have to make decisions about crop production long before they will see profits from their investment. Factors including the future outlook for prices impact the quantity of production. However, because there is such a long growth cycle, the market supply of cocoa often can’t quickly react to changes in demand. This can lead to cocoa shortages and spikes in price. Compounding this problem is the fact that cocoa is perishable and can’t be stored indefinitely.

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Infrastructure and Transportation Cocoa is grown in mostly impoverished parts of the world with limited infrastructure. Poor roads and transportation equipment make the region susceptible to supply disruptions. Excessive rain, for example, can lead to significant delays in transporting cocoa to consumers. These delays can result in supply shortages and higher prices. Consumer Preferences Changes in consumer tastes can affect demand for cocoa and impact prices. In many western countries, dark chocolate consumption is on the rise due to positive publicity about its health benefits. Dark chocolate requires more cocoa to produce than milk chocolate. Emerging market consumers can also drive cocoa prices. Since chocolate is a discretionary item, wealth affects its demand. As emerging economies acquire more wealth, their demand for chocolate products will probably grow. British Pound Cocoa is one of the last remaining commodities to be traded in British pounds. When the pound weakens, the price of cocoa becomes more expensive on the London futures market. However, US futures for cocoa trade in dollars, so their price is affected by the US currency. Income through different ‘cash crops’. The supply chain of cocoa The supply chain for cocoa beans is a series of activities that are necessary to convert raw materials into the final product which in this case is chocolate. Just like many other manufacturing industries, creating chocolate products involves a chain of production that has many links. The supply chain is split into two main parts: the producing countries and the consuming countries. The beans start in producing countries where there are the small farmers; who grow the cocoa beans. The local traders then trade cocoa beans amongst other local traders and finally the exporters distribute the cocoa beans. The cocoa beans then enter the international market where there are international traders who trade the cocoa beans among other international traders. This is called integration trading/processing. Cocoa beans finally make their way to consuming countries where there are cocoa processors and coverture manufacturers. Chocolate manufacturers such as Cadbury and Nestle then manufacture the cocoa beans into chocolate. Retailers such as supermarkets then sell the many different types of chocolate to us, the consumers, who buy and eat the chocolate. These supply chains are very complex and there would be additional services that help producers including banking and insurance services, packaging firms and transport specialists produce the chocolate.

Why we should help cocoa farmers The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) was formed in 2000 by a group of ‘visionary chocolate companies’. The organisation was formed to support the long term sustainability of cocoa farming. The chocolate and cocoa industry had become concerned in the late 1990s about the issues facing cocoa farmers, as Brazil, once a leading cocoa exporter, had had much of its crop wiped out by disease. The impractical farming techniques, poor environmental management, and the economic health of the cocoa farmers were all factors needing to be addressed as the cocoa crop began to deteriorate. The WCF led to the creation of another foundation in 2002 known as the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) which focuses on cocoa farming labour practices, and a‘certification’ process. The ICI also addresses the worst forms of child labour and adult forced labour. With the help of the ICI... - 87.5% of communities reached children are no longer involved in spraying pesticides - 79% of communities have ensured the loads that children carry are reduced - Children have started to be provided with protective clothing whilst they are on the farms across all communities - 83% of communities have stopped giving children the task of breaking the cocoa pods - 87.5% of communities have officially requested teachers - 54% of communities have employed teachers and are paying them directly It is important to understand, why as a consumer, you should only be purchasing Fairtrade certified chocolate. If a chocolate product is Fairtrade ‘certified’ you can be assured that an effort is being made across various cocoa organisations to improve labour practices, offer detailed assessment of labour conditions, inform, guide and measure the success of efforts to help the children and adults in cocoa farming communities, and involve the West African governments (who have control over the territory where the farms are located) to continue driving these changes at the farm level. As a consumer we all must stop buying chocolate brands that don’t have the fair trade logo.

1. Fermentation -During fermentation the cocoa pulp clinging to the beans matures and turns into a liquid, which drains away and the true chocolate flavour starts to develop. Fermentation methods vary considerably from country to country, but there are two basic methods - using heaps and "sweating" boxes. Heap: The heap method, traditionally used on farms in West Africa, involves piling wet cocoa beans, surrounded by the pulp, on banana or plantation leaves spread out in a circle on the ground. The heap is covered with more leaves and left for 5-6 days, regularly turned to ensure even fermentation. Sweating: In large plantations in the West Indies, Latin America and Malaysia use strong wooden boxes with gaps in the slats of the base are used to allow air and liquid to pass through. This process takes 6-8 days during which time the beans are mixed twice. 2. Drying and bagging -When fermentation is complete, the wet mass of beans is dried, either traditionally by being spread in the sun on mats or using special drying equipment. The cured beans are packed into sacks for transportation to Singapore, where we process the beans. After quality inspection they are shipped to our processing factory in Singapore, which produces the basic ingredients from which Cadbury chocolate products are made.On arrival at the factory, the cocoa beans are sorted and cleaned. 3. Winnowing-The dried beans are cracked and a stream of air separates the shell from the nib, the small pieces used to make chocolate. 4. Roasting-The nibs are roasted in special ovens at temperatures between 105-120 degrees Celsius. The actual roasting time depends on whether the end use is for cocoa or chocolate. During roasting, the cocoa nibs darken to a rich, brown colour and acquire their characteristic chocolate flavour and aroma. This flavour however, actually starts to develop during fermentation. 5. Grinding-The roasted nibs are ground in stone mills until the friction and heat of the milling reduces them to a thick chocolate-coloured liquid, known as 'mass.' It contains 53-58% cocoa butter and solidifies on cooling. This is the basis of all chocolate and cocoa products. 6. Pressing - The cocoa liquor is fed into a press that divides the liquor into cocoa butter and cocoa cakes which can be ground into a fine powder known as cocoa powder. White chocolate contains cocoa butter and no cocoa liquor. 7. Chocolate making cocoa liquor is mixed with cocoa butter, sugar and in some cases, milk to make chocolate. Producers can add fresh, sweetened condensed or powdered milk for milk chocolate depending on the desired taste. The mixture is placed into ‘conches’ which stir and smooth the mixture under heat. The longer it is conched, the smoother the chocolate will be. Conching can last for a few hours-three full days or even longer. The liquid chocolate is then either tempered and poured into molds for sale in blocks or shipped as it is in tanks. 8. Consumer -People around the world enjoy thousands of different forms of chocolate with more than 3 million tons of cocoa beans consumed annually. Each country still has their own different preferences and distinctive blends. The cocoa, chocolate and confectionary industry is a key user of other agricultural products including sugar, dairy products, nuts and fruits.

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Cocoa humanities

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