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Rainforest Products - Chocolate
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cocoa tree, Theobroma cacao, which is native to the rainforests of South America. There are also many wild species of cocoa tree. Cocoa was cultivated for at least 2000 yeras before Europeans arrived in the Americas. Today it is grown all over the tropics and the most important cocoa-growing area is now in West Africa.
The name Theobroma means "food of the gods" because according to legend the fruits were part of the diet of the plumed serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. The Aztecs used cocoa to make a drink called "chocolatl", which was flavoured with vanilla, peppers and other spices. Cocoa was so valuable to the Aztecs, they used the beans as a form of currency.
The cocoa tree is an understorey tree and grows to about 4-6 metres tall. The pods grow from the main branches and the trunk.
 Ripening pods hang down from a cocoa tree |
 The ripe cocoa pod has juicy white pulp surrounding the seeds or cocoa beans - there are about 25 or 30 in each pod |
 The seeds are removed from the pod, but they need to be fermented and then dried before they are shipped off to chocolate manufacturers |
Not all chocolate is the same. Some manufacturers buy their cocoa from farmers who grow their cocoa beans organically or even underneath the rainforest canopy, rather than in cleared plantations. Some pay a fair price for the cocoa beans enabling the farmers to earn a reasonable living. These practices have an impact on the rainforest - who do you buy chocolate from?