History of Chocolate:

What do you know about chocolate? 

Most people are under the assumption that Eve tempted Adam out of the garden of Eden. It wasn't. It was actually Adam who tempted Eve with a chocolate bar. At least it was in my head.

The tasty secret of the cacao (kah KOW) tree was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rain forests of the Americas. The pods of this tree contain seeds that can be processed into chocolate. 

The first people known to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America. Bring on the cabana boy fantasies. These people, including the Maya and Aztec, mixed ground cacao seeds with various seasonings to make a spicy, frothy drink.

Later, the Spanish conquistadors brought the seeds back home to Spain, where new recipes were created. Eventually, and the drinks popularity spread throughout Europe. Since then, new technologies and innovations have changed the texture and taste of chocolate, but it still remains one of the world's favorite flavors.(Duh!)

Until the 1500s, no one in Europe knew anything at all about the delicious drink that would later become a huge hit worldwide. Talk about the dark ages! Spain's search for a route to riches led its explorers to the Americas and introduced them to chocolate's delicious flavor.

Eventually, the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs made it possible to import chocolate back home, where it quickly became a court favorite. And within 100 years, the love of chocolate spread throughout the rest of Europe.

Chocolate-making begins in the field, not the factory. The cacao tree grows in the shade of tropical rain forests near the equator. Now, as rain forests dwindle and the demand for chocolate increases, scientists and researchers are looking into new ways to better manage cacao farms and preserve the environment.

Making chocolate takes years of manual labor. Like most agricultural crops, cacao must be closely monitored by farmers. They regularly walk their fields and check for pests, molds, and diseases that can potentially wipe out a whole harvest. In addition, a farmer must spend three to five years caring for young cacao trees before they'll produce their first yield.

Cacao harvesting is done by hand.

Unlike many contemporary crops, cacao can't be harvested by machines. Each thick pod growing off the trunk and branches of the cacao tree must be plucked by hand.

Cacao farming has faced many labor issues.

Because it takes lots of backbreaking work from many people to care for cacao, workers rights were often a major concern for cacao farmers. At one time, European countries even resorted to slavery as a way of supplying cheap labor for crops like cacao. 

Cacao farmers sell their product to chocolate-processing companies through traders at the Coffee, Sugar, and Cocoa Exchange (similar to a stock exchange). Actually, these farmers get a contract for their crop before it is even harvested—this is called trading on the "futures market."

The final price for cacao isn't determined, though, until the crop comes in and is quality inspected. Cacao prices rise and fall with production and demand. Like other agricultural products, cacao experiences highs and lows in the world market. A rise in consumer demand for chocolate, or a decrease in cacao production due to disease, drought, or political disruption, drives prices up.

But when farmers grow more cacao than consumers will buy, cacao prices fall. Falling prices not only hurt the farmer, they can devastate a country's economy if it relies heavily on the sale of cacao. Did you learn enough about the cacao tree??? I sure didn't so I guess I'll have to go in search of some answers. Send me any questions you may have about cacao and I'll try to find out the answers. Until later, I remain your ever loving chocolate conquistador, Carren