Chocolate growing, production and consumption

The majority of chocolate is manufactured on the Ivory Coast and about 40% percent of cocoa beans are grown there.



However, cocoa is also grown in the following countries:



-Hawaii
-the Caribbean
-Venezuela
-Indonesia
-Vietnam
-Brazil
-Dominican Republic
-Ecuador
-Guatemala
-Panama
-Papua New Guinea
-Ghana
-Bahia
-Madagascar
-Sri Lanka

Much of the world's cocoa is grown in small, family farms with only a few hundred trees. The growth of chocolate requires a warm, damp climate and a cover of larger trees. The Cacao tree needs shade, and works best when planted under taller trees such as rosewood, teak, spice or cashews. Each tree only produces around 2 pounds of beans a year, and trees don't begin to produce fruit until they reach five or six years of age.

there are 18 large chocolate manufacturers in Switzerland alone, and Switzerland only produces 5% of the world's chocolate!
Other countries where chocolate is made include:
-Italy
-France
-Belgium
-Australia
-Turkey-
Germany
-New Zealand
-Spain
-United Kingdom
-America

Whilst chocolate is farmed on the equator, people living in equatorial regions eat very little of it compared to those living in the rest of the world. This could be because it is the wealthier countries that can afford to consume the most, or because chocolate is not appealing in such hot climates.

Different types of chocolate

Unsweetened chocolate is is extremely bitter, mixed with some form of fat to produce a solid substance. It is pure ground cocoa beans, when mixed with sugar, however, it becomes the base for brownies and other chocolate products and all other forms of chocolate except white chocolate.



Dark chocolate contains chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and leicithin (an emulsifier) and no added milk solids. The cocoa content of dark chocolate bars can range between 30% to 80%.



Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate that contains at least 35% cocoa solids. It has a more bitter flavour than 'sweet dark' chocolate (containing at least 30% cocoa)



Milk chocolate contains cocao butter, liquor and either condensed milk or dry milk solids. Milk chocolate has a much sweeter taste than dark, a lighter colour and much less deep flavour.



White chocolate contains cocoa butter, but no liquor or other cocoa products. It has no pronounced chocolate taste, but usually tastes like vanilla. By law, white chocolate must contain a minimum 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk solids, and a maximum of 55% sugar.

Candy Coating chocolate
Aka. Confectionary Coating is the name given to products that are flavoured like chocolate but use vegetable/palm oil instead of cocoa butter. They do not have a very chocolatey flavour and are generally cheaper than most chocolate. They are good for melting and molding and so are commonly used in candymaking. Candy coating should never be mixed with real chocolate as the fats are not compatible and they can result in the candy being unnatractive and discoloured.

Charlie and the chocolate factory video!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Everything in the Room is Eatable Movies & TV SPIKE.com

History of chocolate

Image from trueslant.com

Welcome to my blog about chocolate!

This blog is about the geogoraphy of chocolate...because everybody loves chocolate.

History of chocolate

Chocolate is thought to have originated from Mexico and Central America, from the Aztec and Mayan people, who mixed ground cocoa seeds from the cacao tree with chillis to make a spicy chocolate drink.

The drink's popularity spread throughout Europe when the seeds were brought to Spain by the Spanish conquistadors