Cocoa cultivation
From the cacao tree to the chocolate bar
The cacao tree is a shrub that grows in tropical forests: originally from Venezuela, it is now cultivated in Central and South America, Africa and Asia. Today, Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s main cocoa producer. Cocoa production has been steadily increasing in recent years: in 2016 it amounted to 4.55 million tonnes.
Fragile, cocoa production requires the shade of large trees and regular humidity. That is why cocoa trees are still generally grown in family plots (80% of cocoa production), in interaction with other crops.
To become chocolate, the cocoa pods are harvested twice a year, then opened (the cocoa beans are removed). These beans undergo a fermentation process, then dry in the sun. The cocoa beans are then roasted and crushed. The cocoa mass obtained is filtered to extract, on one hand the cocoa butter, and on the other the cocoa powder. To make dark chocolate, cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar are generally used.
The complex challenges of cocoa cultivation
While chocolate delights Western palates, it is in the countries of the ‘Global South‘ that the cocoa is produced. It is therefore an export crop for many countries in Africa and South America, as well as for Indonesia.
Cocoa is subject to the vagaries of world trade and its market is very volatile: depending on speculation, cocoa prices are constantly shifting. These vagaries primarily affect the cocoa producers, who are often small farmers with few sources of income. Although chocolate is an expensive commodity, cocoa producers receive only 5% of the final price of chocolate.
Recent scandals, revealed by various NGOs, affect cocoa production: it is notably concerned with the child labor issue, especially in West Africa. Between 500,000 and 1 million children would be working there illegally, exposed to accidents, animal bites and pesticides. African cocoa plantations would also be the scene of a new form of exploitation, with recorded cases of slavery.
In 2015, a complaint was filed against the major chocolate manufacturers — Mars, Nestlé and Hershey’s — for trafficking and forced child labor in the Ivory Coast.
Furthermore, intensive cocoa monocultures tend to replace family production, particularly in Indonesia and Brazil. These monocultures come at the expense of the rainforest, which undergoes significant clearing, and at the cost of massive use of pesticides that disrupts the fauna and flora of this fragile ecosystem.
Which cocoa variety should you choose?
Criollo cacao, the star of chocolate
Chocolate makers select the cocoa beans based on their flavor qualities, which differ depending on the place of production. There are three main varieties of cocoa: forastero, trinitario and criollo.
– The forastero is the most widely cultivated variety (nearly 90%) and is found mainly in Africa, Brazil and Ecuador.
– The trinitario originates from Trinidad; it is mainly cultivated in Central America and Asia.
– The criollo accounts for less than 5% of world production. It originates from Venezuela and is only cultivated in the countries bordering the Caribbean Sea. It is the most aromatic of the cocoas, slightly bitter.
The industrial chocolates are generally a blend of different cocoa masses whose origin is rarely indicated. Chocolate lovers prefer the cacao criollo, the finest but also the most expensive. The best chocolatiers work only with «grand crus» of cocoa whose origin is indicated: this makes it possible to better define the particular aromas of one type of cocoa or another.
Prefer organic and fair-trade cocoa
Dark chocolate, and particularly the raw cacao, are foods full of benefits: stress-relieving, aphrodisiac, antioxidant… The poor cocoa production conditions, and their social and environmental impacts in producing countries, could deter us from consuming cacao, even though it is so enjoyable!
Following the high-profile scandals related to cocoa production, manufacturers pledged to produce sustainable cocoa by 2020. However, things are moving slowly.
As consumers, we can take action. We can continue to consume chocolate, provided we do so consciously: we turn away from industrial chocolate, high in sugar and bad for health. We prefer organic chocolate: it comes from cocoa farming that respects the environment, without contributing to deforestation and without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Moreover, fair-trade chocolate is also preferred. Indeed, fair-trade cocoa producers do not suffer the fluctuations of the cocoa market because they receive a guaranteed fixed income. Fair-trade cocoa producers also commit to banning child labor and to respecting the environment. They can implement social projects in their community thanks to revenues from fair trade. Even though fair-trade cocoa production is on the rise with 140,000 certified producers, it still represents only 1.2% of the world’s chocolate consumption.
