10 Facts about Cocoa Beans

Thursday, January 21st 2016. | Culinary

Do you want to know more Facts about Cocoa Beans? If so, you can simply read information below as you may find something new. Perhaps you will be surprised with the cocoa beans as you never know anything special about this plant.

Facts about Cocoa Beans 1: Theobroma Cacao

The scientific name of cocoa beans is Theobroma Cacao. It’s a Latin name and it was given to the native plants of the America.

Facts about Cocoa Beans 2: The Cocoa vs. Cacao

There’s slight difference between cocoa and cacao. The cacao is the bean while cocoa is the product processed from cacao beans.

Cocoa Bean Facts

Facts about Cocoa Beans 3: The Sun Exposure

Cocoa trees should be planted away from the direct sunlight. The best spot will be near the tall trees. With this, they will be protected from excessive sun exposure. You may often see some cocoa trees cultivated between papaya and mango trees for sure.

Facts about Cocoa Beans 4: The Temperature

The trees also need to be planted in damp and hot temperature. Thus, America, Africa and South East Asia are the perfect regions to cultivate cocoa beans as the climates are suitable

Facts about Cocoa Beans

Facts about Cocoa Beans 5: The Cultivation

It usually takes 4 years before you can harvest the cocoa beans. Each tree is able to produce around 1,000 beans per year. This number is only sufficient for the making of 1 kilogram of chocolate.

Facts about Cocoa Beans 6: The Process

Each phase of the cocoa production is conducted manually. It includes planting, watering, gathering, fermenting, and aeration. This is another reason why the price is quite expensive.

Cocoa Beans

Facts about Cocoa Beans 7: The Largest Producer

Most of the worlds’ cocoa beans come from Africa. They produce lots of cocoa for the making of more chocolate. Get facts about chocolate milk here.

Facts about Cocoa Beans 8: The Largest Consumer

When it comes to the largest consumer of chocolate, The Great Britain is the winner. The quality isn’t good, though. Chocolate in the UK contains no more than 1% of cocoa. This is illegal based on French law.

Cocoa Bean

Facts about Cocoa Beans 9: The Amsterdam Cocoa

The center of cocoa trade is in Amsterdam. At least, there are more than 500K tons of cocoa pass through the harbor in daily basis.

Facts about Cocoa Beans 10: The Varieties

There are 3 varieties of cocoa beans. The most famous one is Forastero. Yet, each of them has unique characteristics and you can learn more about them from different sources actually. Find facts about chocolate here.