Cocoa, Theobroma cacao

Cocoa, the basis for chocolate, originally comes from the dense rainforests of the Amazon basin. What was once considered a sacred drink by the Maya and Aztecs is now one of the most valuable commodities in the world. Cocoa is far more than just a raw material for sweets – it has become an important economic factor in many countries and provides work and income for millions of people in tropical regions. On the other hand, however, cocoa cultivation is a symbol of exploitation and slavery.

Diversity of the cocoa plant

The cocoa plant (Theobroma cacao) belongs to the mallow family (Malvaceae) and is an evergreen tree that thrives in tropical regions. The tree reaches heights of up to ten meters and forms leathery, oval leaves. The cocoa fruits, also known as cocoa pods, vary in shape and color from green to yellow to red and contain the coveted cocoa beans. These beans, which are embedded in white pulp, are fermented and dried after harvesting before they are processed further.

The cocoa plant needs constant warmth – it particularly likes temperatures between 18 and 32 degrees Celsius. Humidity also plays an important role, with cocoa needing both a generally high level of humidity and regular, abundant rainfall. This is why cocoa mainly grows in tropical regions around the equator between 10 degrees north and 10 degrees south.

From panacea to slavery to en masse availability

Cocoa has a long history. The Maya and Aztecs cultivated the cocoa tree over 3,000 years ago and used its beans as a means of payment and to make a ritual drink. This drink was called ‘Xocolatl’ and was not sweet, but spicy with chili. The cocoa plant was also used by the Maya as a cure-all, including for diarrhea and birth pains. Due to its disinfectant properties, cocoa butter was used to treat inflammation, animal bites and for general skin care.

With the conquest of Central America by the Spanish, cocoa arrived in Europe, started to be consumed sweet and became a popular base for chocolate. Chocolate enjoyed great popularity, but the high demand could not be easily met. Within 350 years, fifteen to twenty million people were brought from the West African continent to America and enslaved on cocoa plantations. The European colonial powers spread cocoa in their occupied colonies. From the first half of the 19th century, cocoa also reached the then oppressed regions in Africa and Asia.

Thanks to technical developments and ever-increasing demand, chocolate and cocoa drinks developed into mass products and cultivation continued to grow rapidly. Today, around 70 percent of the cocoa produced worldwide comes from West Africa, with the Ivory Coast and Ghana being the largest producers. Latin America and Southeast Asia are also important growing regions.

Stimulating and sought-after

Cocoa beans are rich in antioxidants, especially flavonoids, which can have positive effects on cardiovascular health. They also contain theobromine, an alkaloid that has a stimulating effect but is milder than caffeine. Cocoa is also a source of magnesium, iron and potassium. The beans are processed into various products, including cocoa powder, cocoa butter and chocolate. The darker and the higher the cocoa content in a chocolate, the more of the health-promoting properties are also contained in the product. However, the average chocolate from the supermarket contains a large proportion of refined sugar and hardly any health-promoting ingredients.

From bean to chocolate

Several steps are necessary to make chocolate from cocoa beans: First, the beans are removed from the cocoa fruit, fermented and dried. After roasting, the beans are broken and the shells are removed, leaving the cocoa nibs. These nibs are ground into cocoa mass, which consists of cocoa butter and cocoa powder. The mass is then mixed with sugar, milk powder (for milk chocolate) and other ingredients. The chocolate mass is then refined in a so-called conching process, tempered, poured into molds and cooled. Finally, the finished chocolate is packaged and ready for sale.

Exploitative cultivation

One of the biggest challenges in cocoa cultivation is the dependence of producers on global market prices, which fluctuate greatly. Smallholder farmers, who produce the majority of cocoa, are often affected by poverty and have to work in precarious conditions. Many of them earn less than one dollar a day and therefore resort to the use of child labour, a particularly big problem in the two most important cocoa producing countries, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. It is estimated that more than two million children, mainly between the ages of 12 and 16, work on cocoa plantations. They have to work up to 14 hours a day doing hard labor with dangerous tools such as machetes during the harvest.

Tracking exactly where the cocoa comes from is not easy, even for the processing companies, because the cocoa supply chain is complex. Around five to six million small farmers, who cultivate less than five hectares, produce 90 percent of the world’s cocoa. Farmers sell their cocoa beans to ‘aggregators’ who collect them from different regions to pass them on to traders and cocoa exchanges before they are bought by processors. The ground beans are then sold to manufacturers, brands and retailers.

Pleasure and equality?

Enjoying chocolate without exploiting people – is that possible? Various initiatives and trade labels are at least trying to establish fair trade that respects the rights of plantation workers and their fair pay. So when buying chocolate or cocoa, you can pay attention to this. However, cocoa remains a luxury good and does not grow in the countries where it is consumed the most (Europe, North America). Behind every square of chocolate is not only potential exploitation, but also costly transportation. It should therefore be consumed consciously and in moderation.

Sources

International Cocoa Organization (ICCO): Growing Cocoa. Origins Of Cocoa And Its Spread Around The World. Link.
OroVerde: History of chocolate. Cocoa is older than you think. Link.
OroVerde: Child labor on cocoa plantations. A vicious circle. Link.
Rainforest Alliance. Link.
Humanium: The dark side of Chocolate: child labor in the cocoa industry. Link.
Schokoinfo: From the flower to the cocoa bean to the chocolate. Link.