History and Production of Chocolate

Explore the history and production of chocolate, from its origins in the cacao plant to its global consumption. Learn about the different types of chocolate and how industrialization has influenced its production. Discover the impact of globalisation on the spread of chocolate around the world.

I am Chocolate, a brown food and am sweet most of the time. I am prepared from
seeds of cacao plant. The seeds are roasted and ground and then turned to a form of paste or
liquid or a block. I am often used for flavouring other foods. I have been used to prepare
beverages as 1900 BC and my earliest trace of use was found in Olmecs, Mexico. I am
produced into four different types, white, dark and unsweetened. When the amount of milk is
more than cocoa solids I am turned into Milk chocolate which is my most consumed form all
around the world. My second type is white chocolate where cocoa butter is used instead of
cocoa solids. My third type is known as dark chocolate where the amount of cocoa solids is
higher than the other types it is often bitter and considered to be healthier. My fourth types is
my purest form which is also called baking chocolate where the pure chocolate beans give
out my deep and strong flavour.
My source, the Cacao plant is a tropical plant that grows mostly in Africa. However, I
am consumed largely all over the world and contradictorily, my largest consumers in the
world are found mostly in Europe with cool climates. Irrespective of its extremely cold
climate, Switzerland is a country symbolically associated with me from where some of the
best chocolate makers come from. Countries that consume me the most range from
Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom and Sweden. I am also widely consumed all
over America.
I was imported to Europe initially by the Spanish Conquistadors as a bitter tasting food. I was
later experimented with and made sweeter with the help of honey, vanilla and sugar. Soon I
was so desired that it increased the sugar plants along with the side by side chocolate
importation. The introduction of globalisation it was easier to import me from the tropical
countries, my place of origin and then turn me into the desirable version of myself. During
the 1730s, globalisation encouraged connection and trade between different countries and
continents as a result, with time I was being imported to different countries in different
continents other than Europe.
While globalisation was spreading my products all around the world, industrialization
helped increase the rate of my production as well. Industrialization in UK gave birth to
hydraulic machinery which made the chocolate available in more diverse forms. Following
new trends and developments in industrialization, the machinery got cacao seed and cacao
butter was experimented and developed. With time, Africa became the new production house
of Cacao. New machines capable of separating cacao butter and solids were invented by 1820
which facilitated the production of cacao powder. This made me a mass produced food.

Finally in the year 1848, it was realised that by adding cacao liquor, sugar and cacao
butter, I could be produced in a solid form. This was the biggest step in making me such a
diverse food. More improvements were made regarding my quality and flavour during the
latter half or 19th century. The prices of cacao also dropped which started by production in
Asia and Africa as well spreading my consumption all around the world as I was now
affordable to the middle class. Globalisation had a vast effect on spreading me around the
world and industrialization effected my taste, production and consumption.