Where Does Chocolate Come From?

Where does chocolate come from?, and what are some of the chocolate facts? Simply put, it comes from the fruit of a tree that grows in forested areas that have warm wet climates.

The cacao tree grows in tropical zones from 20 degrees north of the equator to 20 degrees south of the equator. The tree grows in many different parts of the world but only in this very narrow equatorial band.

Most of us are familiar with fruit that grows on the newest most tender branches of trees or bushes. Not so with the fruit of the Cacao tree, it’s fruit grows out of the trunk of the tree and out of the bark of the most mature of it’s branches.

A few years ago my wife and I visited panama and the San Blas Islands along the northern coast of Panama. It was here we were first introduced to raw unprocessed chocolate. It came to us in the form of a hot bitter, spicy drink. It was not unpleasant, but definitely bitter. So, how is chocolate made and Where Does Chocolate Come From?

We found out when we visited the island's inhabitants. The Kuna [Cuna] people, cultivate cacao [kaah cow] trees on the Panamanian mainland. They have been using unprocessd chocolate from these trees, since earlier than 250 AD.

It is generally thought that the Aztec, Olmec and other central american natives have been using raw chocolate since long before 250 AD.

Wikipedia has a generally accurate history of chocolate along with some good photos of the cacao tree, it's blossoms, it's pods and the beans inside the pod. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

To tell you some of the chocolate facts and answer the question, Where Does Chocolate Come From? We need to give a short description of how chocolate is handled, from the tree, to the processors, who make it into the many varieties chocolate we all enjoy from time to time.

The initial processing begins at it's source, with the growers. After the fruit is harvested from the trees, the pods are opened and the cacao beans are removed.The beans are then gathered into piles and covered.

After being covered they are left to ferment for from three to eight days [depending on the region]. The beans turn to a golden brown and begin to smell like chocolate.

The cacao beans are then dried and bagged for shipping. The bags of beans are then taken to the Exporters wharehouses. At the exporters wharehouses the beans are dried further, then graded, separated, rebagged, then they are prepared for resale to processors in many different parts of the world.

They, the chocolate manufacturers, further process the beans into the many different kinds of chocolate we are so familiar with and enjoy so much. Some of it they turn into healthy chocolate and some into not so healthy chocolate.

Over the years my wife and I have become interested in the wellness vs health benefits of many things and healthy chocolate is one of them. This article, Where Does Chocolate Come From? is the first of many more to come, dealing with wellness vs health.

We have found that healthy chocolate can have a profound affect on three of the most deadly killers in the Northern Hemisphere, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. None of which are present in the Kuna indians living on the islands. They drink copious amounts of hot raw chocolate daily.

We have answered the question, Where Does Chocolate Come From? and a few of the facts about chocolate and how it is processed. Now the question is, what is healthy chocolate and how can it affect our health and wellness. That will be the topic of our next article.

Wellness-vs-Health, Healthy Chocolate

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease.