Cocoa bean

The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa (/ˈkoʊ.koʊ/) or cacao (/kəˈkaʊ/),[1] is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.

The cacao tree was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in South America before it was introduced in Mesoamerica.[2] Cacao was consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures in spiritual ceremonies, and its beans were a common currency in Mesoamerica. The cacao tree grows in a limited geographical zone; today, West Africa produces nearly 81% of the world's crop. The three main varieties of cocoa plants are Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario, with Forastero being the most widely used.

In 2024, global cocoa bean production reached 5.8 million tonnes, with Ivory Coast leading at 38% of the total, followed by Ghana and Indonesia. Cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder are traded on futures markets, with London focusing on West African cocoa and New York on Southeast Asian cocoa. Various international and national initiatives aim to support sustainable cocoa production, including the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO), the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), and Belgium's Beyond Chocolate. At least 29% of global cocoa production was compliant with voluntary sustainability standards in 2016. Deforestation due to cocoa production remains a concern, especially in West Africa. Sustainable agricultural practices, such as agroforestry, can support cocoa production while conserving biodiversity. Cocoa contributes significantly to economies such as Nigeria's, and demand for cocoa products has grown at over 3% annually since 2008.

Cocoa contains phytochemicals like flavanols, procyanidins, and other flavonoids, and flavanol-rich chocolate and cocoa products may have a small blood pressure lowering effect. The beans also contain theobromine and a small amount of caffeine. The tree takes five years to grow and has a typical lifespan of 100 years.

Cocoa is a variant of cacao, likely due to confusion with the word coco.[3] It is ultimately derived from kakaw(a), but whether that word originates in Nahuatl or a Mixe-Zoquean language is the subject of substantial linguistic debate.[3][4]

The term cocoa beans originated in the 19th century; during the 18th century they were called chocolate nuts, cocoa nuts or just cocoa.[5]

Aztec sculpture with pod Roasted cocoa beans

The cacao tree is native to the Amazon rainforest. It was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago, in equatorial South America from the Santa Ana-La Florida (SALF) site in what is present-day southeast Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe Province) by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, before being introduced in Mesoamerica.[2][6]

More than 3,000 years ago, it was consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures along the Yucatán, including the Maya,[7] and as far back as Olmeca civilization[8] in spiritual ceremonies.[9][10] It also grows in the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon region and the Orinoco basins of South America, such as in Colombia and Venezuela.[11][12] Wild cacao still grows there.[13][14][15] Its range may have been larger in the past; evidence of its wild range may be obscured by cultivation of the tree in these areas since long before the Spanish arrived.[16]

As of 2018, evidence suggests that cacao was first domesticated in equatorial South America,[17] before being domesticated in Central America roughly 1,500 years later.[6] Artifacts found at Santa-Ana-La Florida, in Ecuador, indicate that the Mayo-Chinchipe people were cultivating cacao as long as 5,300 years ago.[6] Chemical analysis of residue extracted from pottery excavated at an archaeological site at Puerto Escondido, in Honduras, indicates that cocoa products were first consumed there sometime between 1500 and 1400 BC. Evidence also indicates that, long before the flavor of the cacao seed (or bean) became popular, the sweet pulp of the chocolate fruit, used in making a fermented (5.34% alcohol) beverage, first drew attention to the plant in the Americas.[18]

The cocoa bean was a common currency throughout Mesoamerica before the Spanish conquest.[19]: 2 The bean was utilized in pre-modern Latin America to purchase small items such as tamales and rabbit dinners. A greater quantity of cocoa beans was used to purchase turkey hens and other large items.[20]

Cacao trees grow in a limited geographical zone, of about 20° to the north and south of the Equator.[21][22] More than 70% of the world's cacao crop is grown in Africa, with Ivory Coast and Ghana producing approximately 58% of global production.[22][23][24] The cacao plant was first given its botanical name by Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus in his original classification of the plant kingdom, where he called it Theobroma ("food of the gods") cacao.[25]

Cocoa was an important commodity in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.[26] A Spanish soldier who was on Hernan Cortés' side during the conquest of the Aztec Empire tells that when Moctezuma II, emperor of the Aztecs, dined, he took no other beverage than chocolate, served in a golden goblet. Flavored with vanilla or other spices, his chocolate was whipped into a froth that dissolved in the mouth. No fewer than 60 portions each day reportedly may have been consumed by Moctezuma II, and 2,000 more by the nobles of his court.[27]

Chocolate was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards, and became a popular beverage by the mid-17th century.[28] Venezuela became the largest producer of cocoa beans in the world.[29] Spaniards also introduced the cacao tree into the West Indies and the Philippines.[30] It was also introduced into the rest of Asia, South Asia and into West Africa by Europeans. In the Gold Coast, modern Ghana, cacao was introduced by a Ghanaian, Tetteh Quarshie.

The three traditional varieties: Forastero, Trinitario, and Criollo

Cocoa beans are traditionally classified into three main varieties: Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario. Use of these terms has changed across different contexts and times, and recent genetic research has found that the categories of Forastero and Trinitario are better understood as geohistorical inventions rather than as having a botanical basis. They are still used frequently in marketing material.[31] Criollo has traditionally been the most prized variety. Believed to have been native to South America, by the time of the Spanish conquest they were grown in Mesoamerica.[32] After European colonization, disease and population decrease led to the Spanish and Portuguese using different cacao varieties from South America. Different from the Criollo beans, these new beans were named Forastero, which can be translated as strange or foreign. They are generally of the Amelonado type and are associated with West Africa.[32] Trinitario refers to any hybrid between Criollo and Forastero.[32]

A cocoa pod (fruit) is about 17 to 20 cm (6.7 to 7.9 in) long and has a rough, leathery rind about 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.18 in) thick (varying with the origin and variety of pod) filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp (called baba de cacao in South America) with a lemonade-like taste enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and a pale lavender to dark brownish purple color.[33]

During harvest, the pods are opened, the seeds are kept, and the empty pods are discarded and the pulp made into juice. The seeds are placed where they can ferment. Due to heat buildup in the fermentation process, cacao beans lose most of the purplish hue and become mostly brown in color, with an adhered skin which includes the dried remains of the fruity pulp. This skin is released easily by winnowing after roasting. White seeds are found in some rare varieties, usually mixed with purples, and are considered of higher value.[34][35]

Harvesting in Cameroon

Cacao trees grow in hot, rainy tropical areas within 20° of latitude from the Equator. Cocoa harvest is not restricted to one period per year and a harvest typically occurs over several months. In fact, in many countries, cocoa can be harvested at any time of the year.[19] Pesticides are often applied to the trees to combat capsid bugs, and fungicides to fight black pod disease.[36]

Immature cocoa pods have a variety of colours, but most often are green, red, or purple, and as they mature, their colour tends towards yellow or orange, particularly in the creases.[19][37] Unlike most fruiting trees, the cacao pod grows directly from the trunk or large branch of a tree rather than from the end of a branch, similar to jackfruit. This makes harvesting by hand easier as most of the pods will not be up in the higher branches. The pods on a tree do not ripen together; harvesting needs to be done periodically through the year.[19] Harvesting occurs between three and four times weekly during the harvest season.[19] The ripe and near-ripe pods, as judged by their colour, are harvested from the trunk and branches of the cacao tree with a curved knife on a long pole. Care must be used when cutting the stem of the pod to avoid damaging the junction of the stem with the tree, as this is where future flowers and pods will emerge.[19][38] One person can harvest an estimated 650 pods per day.[36][39]

Beans drying

The harvested pods are opened, typically with a machete, to expose the beans.[19][36] The pulp and cocoa seeds are removed and the rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then piled in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time, the seeds and pulp undergo "sweating", where the thick pulp liquefies as it ferments. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocoa seeds behind to be collected. At the end of this process, the seeds change color from pale yellow or violet to brown.[40] Sweating is important for the quality of the beans,[41] which originally have a strong, bitter taste. If sweating is interrupted, the resulting cocoa may be ruined; if underdone, the cocoa seed maintains a flavor similar to raw potatoes and becomes susceptible to mildew. Some cocoa-producing countries distill alcoholic spirits using the liquefied pulp.[42]

A typical pod contains 30 to 40 beans and about 400 dried beans are required to make 1 pound (450 g) of chocolate. Cocoa pods weigh an average of 400 g (14 oz) and each one yields 35 to 40 g (1.2 to 1.4 oz) dried beans; this yield is 9–10% of the total weight in the pod.[36] One person can separate the beans from about 2000 pods per day.[36][39]

Closeup of drying beans

The wet beans are then transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried.[36][39] The farmer packs them into boxes or heaps them into piles, then covers them with mats or banana leaves for three to seven days.[43] Finally, the beans are trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process, red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in other countries. Drying in the sun is a common means of drying the beans, particularly among smaller cocoa farmers, as no extraneous flavors such as smoke or oil are introduced which might otherwise taint the flavor as is common in many artificial means of drying. However, large-scale chocolate producers often use artificial means because the processes are more controllable and are not dependent on the weather as well as being faster.[44] Drying the beans too fast, however, can lead to incomplete chemical and physical processes during the drying process which remove or destroy acidic compounds and that can leave the beans overly acidic, decreasing their quality.[45]

The beans should be dry for shipment, which is usually by sea. Traditionally exported in jute bags, over the last decade, beans are increasingly shipped in "mega-bulk" parcels of several thousand tonnes at a time on ships, or standardized to 62.5 kilograms (138 lb) per bag and 200 (12.5 metric tons (12.3 long tons; 13.8 short tons)) or 240 (15 metric tons (15 long tons; 17 short tons)) bags per 20 feet (6.1 m) container. Shipping in bulk significantly reduces handling costs. Shipment in bags, either in a ship's hold or in containers, is still common.[46]

Throughout Mesoamerica where they are native, cocoa beans are used for a variety of foods. The harvested and fermented beans may be ground to order at tiendas de chocolate, or chocolate mills. At these mills, the cocoa can be mixed with a variety of ingredients such as cinnamon, chili peppers, almonds, vanilla, and other spices to create drinking chocolate.[47] The ground cocoa is also an important ingredient in tejate.[48]

Collecting beans after drying

The first allegations that child slavery is used in cocoa production appeared in 1998.[49] In late 2000, a BBC documentary reported the use of enslaved children in the production of cocoa in West Africa.[49][50][51] Other media followed by reporting widespread child slavery and child trafficking in the production of cocoa.[52][53]

The cocoa industry was accused of profiting from child slavery and trafficking.[54] The Harkin–Engel Protocol is an effort to end these practices.[55] In 2001, it was signed and witnessed by the heads of eight major chocolate companies, US senators Tom Harkin and Herb Kohl, US Representative Eliot Engel, the ambassador of the Ivory Coast, the director of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor, and others.[55] It has, however, been criticized by some groups including the International Labor Rights Forum as an industry initiative which falls short, as the goal to eliminate the "worst forms of child labor" from cocoa production by 2005 was not reached.[56][57][58][59] The deadline was extended multiple times and the goal changed to a 70% child labor reduction.[60][61]

Child labour was growing in some West African countries in 2008–09 when it was estimated that 819,921 children worked on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast alone; by 2013–14, the number went up to 1,303,009. During the same period in Ghana, the estimated number of children working on cocoa farms was 957,398 children.[62]

The 2010 documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate revealed that children smuggled from Mali to the Ivory Coast were forced to earn income for their parents, while others were sold as slaves for €230.[citation needed]

In 2010, the US Department of Labor formed the Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group as a public-private partnership with the governments of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to address child labor practices in the cocoa industry.[63]

As of 2017, approximately 2.1 million children in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire were involved in harvesting cocoa, carrying heavy loads, clearing forests, and being exposed to pesticides.[64] According to Sona Ebai, the former secretary general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries: "I think child labor cannot be just the responsibility of industry to solve. I think it's the proverbial all-hands-on-deck: government, civil society, the private sector. And there, you really need leadership."[65] As Reported in 2018, a three-year pilot program, conducted by Nestlé with 26,000 farmers mostly located in Côte d'Ivoire, observed a 51% decrease in the number of children doing hazardous jobs in cocoa farming.[66]

In 2021, several companies were named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former children from Mali who alleged that the companies aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. The suit accused Barry Callebaut, Cargill, The Hershey Company, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, and Olam International, of knowingly engaging in forced labour, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.[67] This case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich because a "traceable connection" between the defendant companies and the specific plantations where plaintiffs were enslaved could not be established.[68]