Cacao Trees

Cacao trees are amazing plants that give us chocolate. They grow in hot, rainy places near the equator. Large pods full of beans grow right on the trunk of the tree. People pick the pods and use the beans inside to make chocolate and cocoa.

The Cacao Pod

Cacao pods are shaped like footballs and can be red, yellow, or orange. Each pod holds 20 to 50 beans inside a sweet white pulp. The beans are bitter when they come out of the pod. Workers dry the beans in the sun and roast them. Then the beans are ground up to make chocolate.

History of Cacao

People have used cacao for more than 3,000 years. The ancient Maya and Aztecs drank cacao as a bitter drink. They thought it was a gift from the gods. The name Theobroma cacao means 'food of the gods' in Greek. Today, most cacao comes from Africa and South America.

Fun Facts

• It takes about 400 cacao beans to make one pound of chocolate.
• Cacao trees can live for over 100 years.
• The Aztecs used cacao beans as money.

Did You Know?

White chocolate does not contain any cacao solids. It is made only from the fat of the cacao bean, called cocoa butter.