How Chocolate Is Made

Chocolate is one of the world's favorite treats. It comes from cacao beans, which grow inside large, colorful pods on cacao trees. These trees only grow in hot, tropical places near the equator. Turning cacao beans into the chocolate we eat is a long and fascinating process.

From Bean to Bar

Cacao pods are harvested from trees and cracked open to reveal the beans inside. The beans are fermented for several days, which helps develop their flavor. Then they are dried in the sun and roasted. After roasting, the outer shells are removed, and the insides are ground into a thick paste called chocolate liquor.

Making Different Types of Chocolate

The chocolate liquor is mixed with sugar and other ingredients. Dark chocolate has more cacao and less sugar. Milk chocolate has milk powder added to make it creamy. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter but has no cacao solids. The mixture is stirred and heated for hours to make it smooth and silky.

Fun Facts

• It takes about 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate.
• The cacao tree can produce pods for about 25 years.
• Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa produces more cacao than any other country.

Did You Know?

The ancient Aztecs loved chocolate so much that they used cacao beans as money!