Cocoa bean

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The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa (Template:IPAc-en) or cacao (Template:IPAc-en),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.

The cacao tree was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in South America before it was introduced in Mesoamerica.<ref name=":0" /> Cacao was consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures in spiritual ceremonies, and its beans were a common currency in Mesoamerica. The cacao tree grows in a limited geographical zone; today, West Africa produces nearly 81% of the world's crop. The two main varieties of cocoa plants are Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario, with Forastero being the most widely used.

In 2024, global cocoa bean production reached 5.8 million tonnes, with Ivory Coast leading at 38% of the total, followed by Ghana and Indonesia. Cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder are traded on futures markets, with London focusing on West African cocoa and New York on Southeast Asian cocoa. Various international and national initiatives aim to support sustainable cocoa production, including the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO), the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), and Belgium's Beyond Chocolate. At least 29% of global cocoa production was compliant with voluntary sustainability standards in 2016. Deforestation due to cocoa production remains a concern, especially in West Africa. Sustainable agricultural practices, such as agroforestry, can support cocoa production while conserving biodiversity. Cocoa contributes significantly to economies such as Nigeria's, and demand for cocoa products has grown at over 3% annually since 2008.

Cocoa contains phytochemicals like flavanols, procyanidins, and other flavonoids, and flavanol-rich chocolate and cocoa products may have a small blood pressure lowering effect. The beans also contain theobromine and a small amount of caffeine. The tree takes five years to grow and has a typical lifespan of 100 years.

Etymology

Cocoa is a variant of cacao, likely due to confusion with the word coco.Template:Sfn It is ultimately derived from kakaw(a), but whether that word originates in Nahuatl or a Mixe-Zoquean language is the subject of substantial linguistic debate.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

The term cocoa beans originated in the 19th century; during the 18th century they were called chocolate nuts, cocoa nuts or just cocoa.Template:Sfn

History

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File:Cacao Aztec Sculpture.jpg

Aztec sculpture with pod

File:Cocoa bean roasted2.jpg

Roasted cocoa beans

The cacao tree is native to the Amazon rainforest. It was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago, in equatorial South America from the Santa Ana-La Florida (SALF) site in what is present-day southeast Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe Province) by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, before being introduced in Mesoamerica.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="ScienceDaily" />

More than 3,000 years ago, it was consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures along the Yucatán, including the Maya,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and as far back as Olmeca civilization<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> in spiritual ceremonies.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It also grows in the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon region and the Orinoco basins of South America, such as in Colombia and Venezuela.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Wild cacao still grows there.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Its range may have been larger in the past; evidence of its wild range may be obscured by cultivation of the tree in these areas since long before the Spanish arrived.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

As of 2018, evidence suggests that cacao was first domesticated in equatorial South America,<ref name="LR">Template:Cite web</ref> before being domesticated in Central America roughly 1,500 years later.<ref name="ScienceDaily">Template:Cite news</ref> Artifacts found at Santa-Ana-La Florida, in Ecuador, indicate that the Mayo-Chinchipe people were cultivating cacao as long as 5,300 years ago.<ref name="ScienceDaily"/> Chemical analysis of residue extracted from pottery excavated at an archaeological site at Puerto Escondido, in Honduras, indicates that cocoa products were first consumed there sometime between 1500 and 1400 BC. Evidence also indicates that, long before the flavor of the cacao seed (or bean) became popular, the sweet pulp of the chocolate fruit, used in making a fermented (5.34% alcohol) beverage, first drew attention to the plant in the Americas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The cocoa bean was a common currency throughout Mesoamerica before the Spanish conquest.<ref name="Wood" />Template:RpThe bean was utilized in pre-modern Latin America to purchase small items such as tamales and rabbit dinners. A greater quantity of cocoa beans was used to purchase turkey hens and other large items.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cacao trees grow in a limited geographical zone, of about 20° to the north and south of the Equator.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref> More than 70% of the world's cacao crop is grown in Africa, with Ivory Coast and Ghana producing approximately 58% of global production.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The cacao plant was first given its botanical name by Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus in his original classification of the plant kingdom, where he called it Theobroma ("food of the gods") cacao.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Cocoa was an important commodity in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A Spanish soldier who was on Hernan Cortés' side during the conquest of the Aztec Empire tells that when Moctezuma II, emperor of the Aztecs, dined, he took no other beverage than chocolate, served in a golden goblet. Flavored with vanilla or other spices, his chocolate was whipped into a froth that dissolved in the mouth. No fewer than 60 portions each day reportedly may have been consumed by Moctezuma II, and 2,000 more by the nobles of his court.<ref>Díaz del Castillo, Bernal (2005) [1632]. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Felipe Castro Gutiérrez (Introduction). Mexico: Editores Mexicanos Unidos, S.A. Template:ISBN. Template:OCLC</ref>

Chocolate was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards, and became a popular beverage by the mid-17th century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Venezuela became the largest producer of cocoa beans in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Spaniards also introduced the cacao tree into the West Indies and the Philippines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was also introduced into the rest of Asia, South Asia and into West Africa by Europeans. In the Gold Coast, modern Ghana, cacao was introduced by a Ghanaian, Tetteh Quarshie.

Varieties

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The three traditional varieties: Forastero, Trinitario, and Criollo

Cocoa beans are traditionally classified into three main varieties: Forastero, Criollo and Trinitario. Use of these terms has changed across different contexts and times, and recent genetic research has found that the categories of Forastero and Trinitario are better understood as geohistorical inventions rather than as having a botanical basis. They are still used frequently in marketing material.Template:Sfn Criollo has traditionally been the most prized variety. Believed to have been native to South America, by the time of the Spanish conquest they were grown in Mesoamerica.Template:Sfn After European colonization, disease and population decrease led to the Spanish and Portuguese using different cacao varieties from South America. Different from the Criollo beans, these new beans were named Forastero, which can be translated as strange or foreign. They are generally of the Amelonado type and are associated with West Africa.Template:Sfn Trinitario refers to any hybrid between Criollo and Forastero.Template:Sfn

Cultivation

A cocoa pod (fruit) is about Template:Convert long and has a rough, leathery rind about Template:Convert thick (varying with the origin and variety of pod) filled with sweet, mucilaginous pulp (called baba de cacao in South America) with a lemonade-like taste enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and a pale lavender to dark brownish purple color.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

During harvest, the pods are opened, the seeds are kept, and the empty pods are discarded and the pulp made into juice. The seeds are placed where they can ferment. Due to heat buildup in the fermentation process, cacao beans lose most of the purplish hue and become mostly brown in color, with an adhered skin which includes the dried remains of the fruity pulp. This skin is released easily by winnowing after roasting. White seeds are found in some rare varieties, usually mixed with purples, and are considered of higher value.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Harvesting

File:Ateh Eldeno harvesting coacoa.jpg

Harvesting in Cameroon

Cacao trees grow in hot, rainy tropical areas within 20° of latitude from the Equator. Cocoa harvest is not restricted to one period per year and a harvest typically occurs over several months. In fact, in many countries, cocoa can be harvested at any time of the year.<ref name="Wood"/> Pesticides are often applied to the trees to combat capsid bugs, and fungicides to fight black pod disease.<ref name="Abenyega"/>

Immature cocoa pods have a variety of colours, but most often are green, red, or purple, and as they mature, their colour tends towards yellow or orange, particularly in the creases.<ref name="Wood">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Unlike most fruiting trees, the cacao pod grows directly from the trunk or large branch of a tree rather than from the end of a branch, similar to jackfruit. This makes harvesting by hand easier as most of the pods will not be up in the higher branches. The pods on a tree do not ripen together; harvesting needs to be done periodically through the year.<ref name="Wood"/> Harvesting occurs between three and four times weekly during the harvest season.<ref name="Wood"/> The ripe and near-ripe pods, as judged by their colour, are harvested from the trunk and branches of the cacao tree with a curved knife on a long pole. Care must be used when cutting the stem of the pod to avoid damaging the junction of the stem with the tree, as this is where future flowers and pods will emerge.<ref name="Wood" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> One person can harvest an estimated 650 pods per day.<ref name="Abenyega">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Gockowski">Template:Cite book</ref>

Harvest processing

Beans drying in the sun

Beans drying

The harvested pods are opened, typically with a machete, to expose the beans.<ref name="Wood"/><ref name="Abenyega"/> The pulp and cocoa seeds are removed and the rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then piled in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time, the seeds and pulp undergo "sweating", where the thick pulp liquefies as it ferments. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocoa seeds behind to be collected. Sweating is important for the quality of the beans,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which originally have a strong, bitter taste. If sweating is interrupted, the resulting cocoa may be ruined; if underdone, the cocoa seed maintains a flavor similar to raw potatoes and becomes susceptible to mildew. Some cocoa-producing countries distill alcoholic spirits using the liquefied pulp.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A typical pod contains 30 to 40 beans and about 400 dried beans are required to make Template:Convert of chocolate. Cocoa pods weigh an average of Template:Convert and each one yields Template:Convert dried beans; this yield is 9–10% of the total weight in the pod.<ref name="Abenyega"/> One person can separate the beans from about 2000 pods per day.<ref name="Abenyega"/><ref name="Gockowski"/>

File:Medium close up image of David Kebu Jnr holding cocoa beans drying in the sun. (10703178735).jpg

Closeup of drying beans

The wet beans are then transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried.<ref name="Abenyega"/><ref name="Gockowski"/> The farmer packs them into boxes or heaps them into piles, then covers them with mats or banana leaves for three to seven days.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Finally, the beans are trodden and shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process, red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color, polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in other countries. Drying in the sun is preferable to drying by artificial means, as no extraneous flavors such as smoke or oil are introduced which might otherwise taint the flavor.Template:Cn

The beans should be dry for shipment, which is usually by sea. Traditionally exported in jute bags, over the last decade, beans are increasingly shipped in "mega-bulk" parcels of several thousand tonnes at a time on ships, or standardized to Template:Convert per bag and 200 (Template:Convert) or 240 (Template:Convert) bags per Template:Convert container. Shipping in bulk significantly reduces handling costs. Shipment in bags, either in a ship's hold or in containers, is still common.Template:Cn

Throughout Mesoamerica where they are native, cocoa beans are used for a variety of foods. The harvested and fermented beans may be ground to order at tiendas de chocolate, or chocolate mills. At these mills, the cocoa can be mixed with a variety of ingredients such as cinnamon, chili peppers, almonds, vanilla, and other spices to create drinking chocolate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The ground cocoa is also an important ingredient in tejate.<ref>Template:Cite Journal</ref>

Child slavery

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Boy collecting beans after drying

Collecting beans after drying

The first allegations that child slavery is used in cocoa production appeared in 1998.<ref name="Raghavan1">Template:Cite news</ref> In late 2000, a BBC documentary reported the use of enslaved children in the production of cocoa in West Africa.<ref name="Raghavan1" /><ref name="combating">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Other media followed by reporting widespread child slavery and child trafficking in the production of cocoa.<ref name="chocolate slavery">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="accuses companies">Template:Cite news</ref>

The cocoa industry was accused of profiting from child slavery and trafficking.<ref name="Payson2010 p26">Template:Cite web</ref> The Harkin–Engel Protocol is an effort to end these practices.<ref name="HE Protocol">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2001, it was signed and witnessed by the heads of eight major chocolate companies, US senators Tom Harkin and Herb Kohl, US Representative Eliot Engel, the ambassador of the Ivory Coast, the director of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor, and others.<ref name="HE Protocol"/> It has, however, been criticized by some groups including the International Labor Rights Forum as an industry initiative which falls short, as the goal to eliminate the "worst forms of child labor" from cocoa production by 2005 was not reached.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Monsy">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Payson2011">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The deadline was extended multiple times and the goal changed to a 70% child labor reduction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Child labour was growing in some West African countries in 2008–09 when it was estimated that 819,921 children worked on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast alone; by 2013–14, the number went up to 1,303,009. During the same period in Ghana, the estimated number of children working on cocoa farms was 957,398 children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 2010 documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate revealed that children smuggled from Mali to the Ivory Coast were forced to earn income for their parents, while others were sold as slaves for €230.Template:Cn

In 2010, the US Department of Labor formed the Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group as a public-private partnership with the governments of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to address child labor practices in the cocoa industry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of 2017, approximately 2.1 million children in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire were involved in harvesting cocoa, carrying heavy loads, clearing forests, and being exposed to pesticides.<ref name="reuters2017">Template:Cite news</ref> According to Sona Ebai, the former secretary general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries: "I think child labor cannot be just the responsibility of industry to solve. I think it's the proverbial all-hands-on-deck: government, civil society, the private sector. And there, you really need leadership."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As Reported in 2018, a three-year pilot program, conducted by Nestlé with 26,000 farmers mostly located in Côte d'Ivoire, observed a 51% decrease in the number of children doing hazardous jobs in cocoa farming.<ref name="balch">Template:Cite web</ref>

Lawsuits

In 2021, several companies were named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former children from Mali who alleged that the companies aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. The suit accused Barry Callebaut, Cargill, The Hershey Company, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, and Olam International, of knowingly engaging in forced labour, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Production

Template:Nobr
2022, millions of tonnes<ref name="fao">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:CIV	2.23
Ghana	1.10
Template:IDN	0.68
Template:ECU	0.34
Template:CMR	0.30
Template:NGA	0.28
Template:BRA	0.27
World	5.87

In 2022, world production of cocoa beans was 5.87 million tonnes, led by Ivory Coast with 38% of the total, while secondary producers were Ghana and Indonesia (table).

Cocoa trading

Cocoa beans are traditionally shipped and stored in burlap sacks, in which the beans are susceptible to pest attacks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Fumigation with methyl bromide was to be phased out globally by 2015. Additional cocoa protection techniques for shipping and storage include the application of pyrenoids Template:Fact, as well as hermetic storage in sealed bags or containers with lowered oxygen concentrations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Safe long-term storage facilitates the trading of cocoa products at commodity exchanges.

Cocoa beans, cocoa butter and cocoa powder are traded on futures markets. The London market is based on West African cocoa and New York on cocoa predominantly from Southeast Asia. Cocoa is the world's smallest soft commodity market. The futures price of cocoa butter and cocoa powder is determined by multiplying the bean price by a ratio. The combined butter and powder ratio has tended to be around 3.5. If the combined ratio falls below 3.2 or so, production ceases to be economically viable and some factories cease extraction of butter and powder and trade exclusively in cocoa liquor.Template:Cn

Cocoa futures traded on the ICE Futures US Softs exchange, are valued at 10 Tonnes per contract with a tick size of 1 and tick value of US$10.<ref name="PortaraCQG">Template:Cite web</ref>

Contract Specification<ref name="PortaraCQG" />
Cocoa (CCA)
Exchange:	NYI
Sector:	Soft
Tick Size:	1
Tick Value:	10 USD
BPV:	10
Denomination:	USD
Decimal Place:	0

Sustainability

Multiple international and national initiatives collaborate to support sustainable cocoa production. These include the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO), the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), and Beyond Chocolate, Belgium. A memorandum between these three initiatives was signed in 2020 to measure and address issues including child labor, living income, deforestation and supply chain transparency.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Similar partnerships between cocoa producing and consuming countries are being developed, such as the cooperation between the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) and the Ghanaian Cocoa Authority, who aim to increase the proportion of sustainable cocoa being imported from Ghana to Switzerland to 80% by 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The ICCO is engaged in projects around the world to support sustainable cocoa production and provide current information on the world cocoa market.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cocoa is one of seven commodities included in the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR), which aims to guarantee that the products European Union (EU) citizens consume do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation worldwide.<ref name="eudef">Template:Cite web</ref>

Voluntary sustainability standards

There are numerous voluntary certifications including Fairtrade and UTZ (now part of Rainforest Alliance) for cocoa which aim to differentiate between conventional cocoa production and that which is more sustainable in terms of social, economic and environmental concerns. As of 2016, at least 29% of global cocoa production was compliant with voluntary sustainability standards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, among the different certifications there are significant differences in their goals and approaches, and a lack of data to show and compare the results on the farm level. While certifications can lead to increased farm income, the premium price paid for certified cocoa by consumers is not always reflected proportionally in the income for farmers. In 2012 the ICCO found that farm size mattered significantly when determining the benefits of certifications, and that farms an area less than 1ha were less likely to benefit from such programs, while those with slightly larger farms as well as access to member co-ops and the ability to improve productivity were most likely to benefit from certification.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Certification often requires high up-front costs, which are a barrier to small farmers, and particularly, female farmers. The primary benefits to certification include improving conservation practices and reducing the use of agrochemicals, business support through cooperatives and resource sharing, and a higher price for cocoa beans which can improve the standard of living for farmers.<ref name="COSA">Template:Cite web</ref>

Fair trade cocoa producer groups are established in Belize, Bolivia, Cameroon, the Congo,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, India, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Sierra Leone, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

In 2018, the Beyond Chocolate partnership was created between multiple stakeholders in the global cocoa industry to decrease deforestation and provide a living income for cocoa farmers. The many international companies are currently participating in this agreement and the following voluntary certification programs are also partners in the Beyond Chocolate initiative: Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, ISEAL, BioForum Vlaanderen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Many major chocolate production companies around the world have started to prioritize buying fair trade cocoa by investing in fair trade cocoa production, improving fair trade cocoa supply chains and setting purchasing goals to increase the proportion of fair trade chocolate available in the global market.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>"Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk Goes Global as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand take Fairtrade Further Into Mainstream". Template:Webarchive Cadbury PLC 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Rainforest Alliance lists the following goals as part of their certification program:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Forest protection and sustainable land management
Improve rural livelihoods to reduce poverty
Address human rights issues such as child labor, gender inequality and indigenous land rights

The UTZ Certified-program (now part of Rainforest Alliance) included counteracting against child labor and exploitation of cocoa workers, requiring a code of conduct in relation to social and environmentally friendly factors, and improvement of farming methods to increase profits and salaries of farmers and distributors.<ref name="Certification for Farmers">Template:Cite web</ref>

Environmental impact

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The relative poverty of many cocoa farmers means that environmental consequences such as deforestation are given little significance. For decades, cocoa farmers have encroached on virgin forest, mostly after the felling of trees by logging companies. This trend has decreased as many governments and communities are beginning to protect their remaining forested zones.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, deforestation due to cocoa production is still a major concern in parts of West Africa. In Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, barriers to land ownership have led migrant workers and farmers without financial resources to buy land to illegally expand their cocoa farming in protected forests. Many cocoa farmers in this region continue to prioritize expansion of their cocoa production, which often leads to deforestation.<ref name="Schulte-Supporting">Schulte, I.; Landholm, D.M.; Bakhtary, H.; Cabezas, S.C.; Siantidis, S.; Manirajaj, S.M.; and Streck, C. (2020). Supporting smallholder farmers for a sustainable cocoa sector: Exploring the motivations and role of farmers in the effective implementation of supply chain sustainability in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire (pp. 1–59, Rep.). Washington, DC: Meridian Institute.</ref>

Sustainable agricultural practices such as utilizing cover crops to prepare the soil before planting and intercropping cocoa seedlings with companion plants can support cocoa production and benefit the farm ecosystem. Prior to planting cocoa, leguminous cover crops can improve the soil nutrients and structure, which are important in areas where cocoa is produced due to high heat and rainfall which can diminish soil quality. Plantains are often intercropped with cocoa to provide shade to young seedlings and improve drought resilience of the soil. If the soil lacks essential nutrients, compost or animal manure can improve soil fertility and help with water retention.<ref name="Dohmen">Dohmen, M. M., Noponen, M., Enomoto, R., Mensah, C., & Muilerman, S. (2018). Climate-Smart Agriculture in Cocoa A Training Manual for Field Officers (pp. 1–111, Rep.). Washington, DC: World Cocoa Foundation</ref>

The use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by cocoa farmers is limited. When cocoa bean prices are high, farmers may invest in their crops, leading to higher yields which, in turn tends to result in lower market prices and a renewed period of lower investment.Template:Cn

While governments and NGOs have made efforts to help cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire sustainably improve crop yields, many of the educational and financial resources provided are more readily available to male farmers versus female farmers. Access to credit is important for cocoa farmers, as it allows them to implement sustainable practices, such as agroforestry, and provide a financial buffer in case disasters like pest or weather patterns decrease crop yield.<ref name="Schulte-Supporting" />

Cocoa production is likely to be affected in various ways by the expected effects of global warming. Specific concerns have been raised concerning its future as a cash crop in West Africa, the current centre of global cocoa production. If temperatures continue to rise, West Africa could simply become unfit to grow the beans.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The International Center for Tropical Agriculture warned in a paper published in 2013 that Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, the world's two top cocoa growers, will experience a decline in suitable areas for cocoa production as global temperatures rise by up to 2 °C by 2050.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Climate change, coupled with pests, poor soil health, and the demand for sustainable cocoa, has led to a rapid decline in cocoa productivity, resulting in reduced income for smallholder cocoa farmers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Severe droughts have led to soil fertility decline, causing a decrease in yields, and resulting in some farmers abandoning cocoa production.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cocoa beans also have a potential to be used as a bedding material in farms for cows. Using cocoa bean husks in bedding material for cows may contribute to udder health (less bacterial growth) and ammonia levels (lower ammonia levels on bedding).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Agroforestry

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Cocoa beans may be cultivated under shade, as done in agroforestry. Agroforestry can reduce the pressure on existing protected forests for resources, such as firewood, and conserve biodiversity.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Integrating shade trees with cocoa plants reduces risk of soil erosion and evaporation, and protects young cocoa plants from extreme heat.<ref name="Dohmen" /> Agroforests act as buffers to formally protected forests and biodiversity island refuges in an open, human-dominated landscape. Research of their shade-grown coffee counterparts has shown that greater canopy cover in plots is significantly associated with greater mammal species diversity.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The amount of diversity in tree species is fairly comparable between shade-grown cocoa plots and primary forests.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Economic effects

Cocoa contributes significantly to Nigerian economic activity, comprising the largest part of the country's foreign exchange, and providing income for farmers.<ref name="Ambele-et-al-2018">Template:Cite journal Template:Small. Template:Small.</ref> Farmers can grow a variety of fruit-bearing shade trees to supplement their income to help cope with the volatile cocoa prices.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Although cocoa has been adapted to grow under a dense rainforest canopy, agroforestry does not significantly further enhance cocoa productivity.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> However, while growing cocoa in full sun without incorporating shade plants can temporarily increase cocoa yields, it will eventually decrease the quality of the soil due to nutrient loss, desertification and erosion, leading to unsustainable yields and dependency on inorganic fertilizers. Agroforestry practices stabilize and improve soil quality, which can sustain cocoa production in the long term.<ref name="Schulte-Supporting" />

Over time, cocoa agroforestry systems become more similar to forest, although they never fully recover the original forest community within the life cycle of a productive cocoa plantation (approximately 25 years).<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> Thus, although cocoa agroforests cannot replace natural forests, they are a valuable tool for conserving and protecting biodiversity while maintaining high levels of productivity in agricultural landscapes.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020">Template:Cite book</ref>

In West Africa, where about 70% of global cocoa supply originates from smallholder farmers, recent public–private initiatives such as the Cocoa Forest Initiatives in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire (World Cocoa Foundation, 2017) and the Green Cocoa Landscape Programme in Cameroon (IDH, 2019) aim to support the sustainable intensification and climate resilience of cocoa production, the prevention of further deforestation and the restoration of degraded forests.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" /> They often align with national REDD+ policies and plans.<ref name="FAO & UNEP-2020" />

Consumption

People around the world consume cocoa in many different forms, consuming more than 3 million tons of cocoa beans yearly. Once the cocoa beans have been harvested, fermented, dried and transported they are processed in several components. Processor grindings serve as the main metric for market analysis. Processing is the last phase in which consumption of the cocoa bean can be equitably compared to supply. After this step all the different components are sold across industries to many manufacturers of different types of products.Template:Cn

Global market share for processing has remained stable, even as grindings increase to meet demand. One of the largest processing countries by volume is the Netherlands, handling around 13% of global grindings. Europe and Russia as a whole handle about 38% of the processing market. Average year after year demand growth has been just over 3% since 2008. While Europe and North America are relatively stable markets, increasing household income in developing countries is the main reason of the stable demand growth. As demand is awaited to keep growing, supply growth may slow down due to changing weather conditions in the largest cocoa production areas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Chocolate production

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To produce Template:Convert of chocolate, around 300 to 600 cocoa beans are processed. The beans are roasted, cracked, and deshelled, resulting in pieces called nibs (the cotyledons, of which beans generally contain twoTemplate:Sfn), which are ground into a thick paste known as chocolate liquor or cocoa paste. The liquor is processed into chocolate by adding cocoa butter, sugar, and sometimes vanilla and lecithin. Alternatively, cocoa powder and cocoa butter can be separated using a hydraulic press or the Broma process. Treating cocoa with an alkali produces Dutch process cocoa, which has a different flavor profile than untreated cocoa. Roasting can also be done on the whole bean or nib, affecting the final flavor. Most nibs are ground, using various methods, into a thick, creamy paste, known as chocolate liquor or cocoa paste. This "liquor" is then further processed into chocolate by mixing in (more) cocoa butter and sugar (and sometimes vanilla and lecithin as an emulsifier), and then refined, conched and tempered. Alternatively, it can be separated into cocoa powder and cocoa butter using a hydraulic press or the Broma process. This process produces around 50% cocoa butter and 50% cocoa powder.Template:Cn

Cocoa powder may have a fat content of about 12%,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> but this varies significantly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Cocoa butter is used in chocolate bar manufacture, other confectionery, soaps, and cosmetics.Template:Cn

Treating with an alkali produces Dutch process cocoa, which is less acidic, darker, and more mellow in flavor than untreated cocoa. Regular (non-alkalized) cocoa is acidic, so when cocoa is treated with an alkaline ingredient, generally potassium carbonate, the pH increases.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Better source needed This can be done at various stages during manufacturing, including during nib treatment, liquor treatment, or press cake treatment.Template:Cn

Another process that helps develop the flavor is roasting, which can be done on the whole bean before shelling or on the nib after shelling. The time and temperature of the roast affect the result: A "low roast" produces a more acid, aromatic flavor, while a high roast gives a more intense, bitter flavor lacking complex flavor notes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A roasted bean, the papery skin rubbed loose

A roasted bean, the papery skin rubbed loose
Press cake of the paste

Press cake of the paste
Chocolate

Chocolate

Phytochemicals and research

File:Theobromin - Theobromine.svg

Structure of theobromine (IUPAC name: 3,7-dimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione)

Cocoa contains various phytochemicals, such as flavanols (including epicatechin), procyanidins, and other flavonoids. A systematic review presented moderate evidence that the use of flavanol-rich chocolate and cocoa products causes a small (2 mmHg) blood pressure lowering effect in healthy adults—mostly in the short term.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The highest levels of cocoa flavanols are found in raw cocoa and to a lesser extent, dark chocolate, since flavonoids degrade during cooking used to make chocolate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The beans contain theobromine, and between 0.1% and 0.7% caffeine, whereas dry coffee beans are about 1.2% caffeine.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Theobromine found in the cocoa solids is fat soluble.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>