The difference between cacao and cocoa: Cacao is the bean. Cocoa is the product that is made from it.
Cocoa trees need to be planted next to tall trees in order to protect them from direct sunlight. This is why you often see cocoa trees planted among mango and papaya trees. The soil influences the flavours of the cocoa beans.
It takes 3 to 5 years before the cocoa tree bears fruit. EACH TREE produces around 1,000 beans a year, but that is only enough to make just 1 kg of chocolate.
Cocoa beans, the base for making chocolate, are the seeds of the cacao tree.
They are found inside the cacao pods, surrounded by a sweet white pulp.
Each pod contains between 20 and 60 cocoa beans.
A variety of chemicals, including theobromine which is very similar to caffeine, give the seeds a bitter flavour.
Every stage of cocoa production is done by hand: planting, irrigating, harvesting, fermenting and drying. Another reason why fine chocolate justifies its price.
Chocolate is the number one use for cocoa beans, but it isn’t the only thing they are good for. Cocoa beans can also be used for…
The oil taken from cocoa beans before they are roasted is called cocoa butter. It is used to make chocolate and many other food items.
Some animals like to eat cocoa bean hulls.
The hulls from the cocoa beans are used as mulch. Mulch is what people put around trees and in flower beds to keep the weeds from growing.