Aztecs producing "Xocoatl"- Cacao Beans are roasted, grinded and stirred with water and spices until frothy. (From "America" by John Ogilby, 1671)


Meeting of Hernando Cortez and the Aztec emperor Montezuma in 1519. (oil painting from the 19th century, Cadbury Collection, Birmingham.)


 It seems certain that cacao was well known to natives as food and luxury. Cacao was grown by the Red Indians of Central- and South America in prehistorical times.

The Toltecs and Aztecs used cacao as a beverage but also a form of currency. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spanish introduced cacao to Spain. In the course of the 17th century cacao was brought to other European countries, too.


A turqoise mosaic mask depicting Quetzalcoatl -
the feathered serpant of the Aztecs, whom they
own the seeds of the cacao tree to around 1520


Cacao Tree		 Cacao belongs to the Sterculiaceae family (which also inlcudes hibiscus and the caffein-containing cola nut). There are 20 wild types of cacao: they are all small trees native to the rain forests in Central and South America. The great botanist Carl von Linné gave the genus the botanical name "Theobroma", meaning Food of the Gods - and that is exactly what it is.

The most important specy is THEOBROMA CACAO, the actual cacao tree. Other species are used, too (THEOBROMA ANGUSTIFOLIUM, T. BIOCOLOR,, T. GRANDIFLORUM). From all these species, important cultivated plants developed. Alone for this natural variety, there are a number of different flavours.

The cacao trees lives up to 100 years but only reaches a height of approx. 9 m. Cultivated trees are even smaller and begin to flower after only 5 years at a height of approx. 3 m bearing only a small number of pods, later up to 35. They have dark green, large and leathery leaves.







Cacao Flower with blossoms		 The whitish cacao flowers are very small (approx. 1cm in diameter) but have a very complicated structure and are of a fragile, orchid-like beauty. They are pollinated by tiny flies. This is an ecological speciality that is only found in rain forests: the flowers develop in the old wood of branches or grow directly along the trunk - a very unusual picture for Europeans. Thus, they are not hidden under the leaves enabling the pollinators to find the flowers easily in the dim light of the jungle.








Cacao Pods on the tree		 Often thousand of flowers are opened at the same time, but only a few will produce fruit. If there are no natural pollinators, the flowers can be pollinated by hand (with a fine brush). Cacao flowers and fruit grow side by side on the same tree. It is amazing how big these fruits are: within 5 months the tiny flowers develop into 15 - 20 cm long pods when harvested, ranging in colour from light-green or yellow to red. Inside the pod, imbedded in the white pulp, there are approx. 30 - 50 cacao beans that are neatly arranged and that are the basis of our chocolate.







Opened Cacao Pod
 		Today, cacao is cultivated in all tropical areas of the world, sometimes on plantations, sometimes on small private farms. The most important cultivation area with an annual production of about 2.4 million tons in total (in comparison to coffee with 4.5 mio tons) is West Africa (approx. 1.3 mio tons), South and Central America (approx. 0.6 mio tons) and the tropical areas of Asia (approx. 0.5 mio tons). According to ist origination, areas with an almost consistent annual temperature of 25°C - 28°C are optimal cultivation areas; the average temperature of the coldest month should not fall below 20°C and the coldest night not below 15°C. The plants require a high humidity (approx. 80%) and an annual rainfall of about 1500 - 2000 mm (thus, approximately three times as much as for example in Cologne). Cacao trees grow best in the shade of other, bigger and leafy trees and require a good condition of the soil.

The different flavours of cacao has two reasons: First of all, there are a variety of wild-growing and cultivated species (for example Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario). Furthermore, the cacao flavour depends on the climate and the soil of the cultivation area - similar to grapevine. One of the secrets of high-quality chocolate production is the mixture of different cacao types.








Cacao Harvest with a machete


Cacao Beans before fermentation
 		The exotic fruits ripen all year through. The pods are harvested manually by making a clear cut near the trunk. They have to be processed immediately in the planting area. The pods are carefully sliced open to reveal the cacao beans that are surrounded by the white pulp. The cacao beans are removed by hand; they are placed on and covered with banana leaves to ferment. On larger plantations, big wooden boxes are used for fermenation whereby the beans are transferred from one box to another each day for a total period of 5 days. Fermentation is a complicated, natural, biotechnological process that takes place at a temperature of approx. 45°C. The white pulp breaks down, the bitter compounds of the beans degrate, and the typical cacao flavour develops. Oxygen is necessary for the development of the typical brown colour. Fermentation takes about one week.








Cocoa Beans after fermentation


Cocoa Beans after sundrying

Filled in jute sacks for shipment
Following fermentation, the beans are spread out on mats for drying either in the sun or in heated drying plants. The moisture content of the cacao beans is reduced up to 8%. It is only after drying that the beans can be stored and shipped. Before the beans are shipped they are subject to a thorough quality control. Now the raw cocoa - that is the name of the fermented and dried product- is packed into jute sacks and -sometimes on food, sometimes by means of simple transportation - brought to the nearest harbour. Raw cocoa is only processed in industrial centres of the world.

Cocoa is a luxury and a high-quality food at the same time. Its fat - the cocoa butter - is one of the most valuable fats that is also used in medicine and cosmetic. The most important components of a cocoa bean are:
Tabelle:
Cocoa Butter approx. 54 %
Protein approx. 11 %
Tannin, flavouring
agents and colouring components
 approx. 6.0 %
Minerals and Salt
 approx. 2.6 %
  Sugar approx. 1.0 %
  Water approx. 5.0 %

Additionally it contains the stimulating Theobromine (approx. 1.2%) and traces of caffein (0.2%); both are responsible for the slightly stimulating effect of cocoa and chocolate.

"Photos: Info-Centre Schokolade Leverkusen"


Stollwerck was successfully represented at the 41st International Confectionery Trade Fair this year too.

Barry Callebaut sells its European
consumer business to the Belgian
Sweet Products/Baronie Group.
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