How are cocoa bean produced?

How are cocoa bean produced?

Cocoa beans grow in pods that sprout off of the trunk and branches of cocoa trees. The pods are about the size of a football. The pods start out green and turn orange when they’re ripe. When the pods are ripe, harvesters travel through the cocoa orchards with machetes and hack the pods gently off of the trees.

Where do cacao beans come from?

The Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana are the top producers of cacao- 70% of the world’s cocoa beans come from these West African countries. However, countries such as Indonesia, Peru, Venezuela and many countries in Central America and the Carribean also grow the bean.

Where is cocoa produced?

Cocoa beans are produced in tropical zones around the Equator, where climate conditions are well suited for growing cocoa trees. About 70 percent of the world’s cocoa beans come from four West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.

How is cocoa harvested?

Harvesting Cocoa Harvesting involves removing ripe pods from the trees and opening them to extract the wet beans. The pods are harvested manually by making a clean cut through the stalk with a well sharpened blade. The pods are opened to remove the beans within a week to 10 days after harvesting.

Where do Cacao trees grow best?

Cocoa trees grow best in warm environments about ten to twenty degrees North and South of the equator. Some of the current producers of cocoa are countries like Ghana, Ecuador, Cameroon, and Indonesia.

Where can you grow cocoa trees?

Growing cacao trees requires mimicking these conditions. In the United States, that means the tree can only be grown in USDA zones 11-13 – Hawaii, parts of southern Florida and southern California as well as tropical Puerto Rico.

Who produces the most cocoa beans?

Ghana
About 70 percent of the world’s cocoa beans come from four West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. The Ivory Coast and Ghana are by far the two largest producers of cocoa, accounting for more than 50 percent of the world´s cocoa.

How many countries produce cocoa?

While the top 10 cacao producing countries grow over eighty percent of the world’s cacao, as of 2019 there are more than fifty countries growing cacao in some capacity (more than 1MT of dried cacao annually).

Is cocoa bean a fruit?

Cacao (or cocoa) beans are technically not beans or legumes, but rather the seeds of the fruit of the Theobroma cacao tree. The pod shaped fruit is botanically classified as baccate-like (berry-like) and each pod produces approximately 35-50 seeds surrounded by a sweet pulp [2].

What climate do cocoa beans grow in?

The Cocoa Belt essentially follows the tropics, extending twenty degrees north and south of the equator. Much like their parent trees, cocoa beans need constant warm temperatures in order to thrive – usually between 65 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit – along with high humidity and ample rainfall (40-100 inches annually).

How many beans does a cocoa tree produce?

A typical pod contains 30 to 40 beans and there are about 30 pods per tree; approximately 400 dried beans are required to make one pound of cocoa.

What kind of tree does cocoa beans come from?

Cocoa beans, or cacao beans, come from the Theobroma cacao tree. The Theobroma cacao tree is a fruit tree, whose name means “food of the gods”.

Where is the origin of the cacao tree?

The Cacao Tree. The cacao tree, also known as Theobroma Cacao or the cocoa tree, has been around since ancient times. They are native to the Amazon basin in South and Central America where they still grow wild in the rain-forests.

How tall does the Theobroma cacao tree grow?

& Bey Theobroma cacao, also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small (4–8 m (13–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae, native to the deep tropical regions of Mesoamerica. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate.

What kind of climate do cacao beans grow in?

The cacao beans, which are technically seeds, grow inside pods surrounded by a white fleshy pulp known as Baba. The Theobroma cacao tree flourishes in hotter tropical climates (65-90°F) at lower elevations (<2,000ft).