The Delicious History of Chocolate 🍫

The cacao tree originates from the tropical and humid forests of South America. Its fruit, the cacao pod, contains seeds called cacao beans. Around the end of the 4th millennium BC, the tree is domesticated in the Mayo Chinchipe culture. The cacao bean then follows trade routes and reaches the Pacific coast, where it is consumed as a beverage in the Valdivia culture. From there, it continues to spread northward until it reaches Mesoamerica. The tree is domesticated there, and the cacao bean becomes a central element of the Olmec culture, although its precise role and method of consumption remain unknown. In any case, what the Olmecs call cacahua spreads throughout Mesoamerica until it reaches the Maya. The latter dry the cacao beans in the sun, roast them, and then grind them on a large heated stone to obtain cacao paste. The paste is mixed with water, maize flour, and occasionally with chili or vanilla to create a sacred beverage that is consumed during religious rites and festivities. The cacao bean becomes so valuable that it is even used as a form of currency. Further west, the Aztecs consider the cacao bean a gift from the gods. However, since the cacao tree does not grow on their land due to its arid and high-altitude conditions, they have to import the beans, which are rare and expensive, and therefore mainly reserved for the elite. The Aztecs prepare a cold, bitter, and spiced drink that they call xocolatl, with xocoli meaning bitter and atl meaning water. As the beverage is considered stimulating, warriors may drink it before battle. During their conquests, the Aztecs notably impose a cacao bean tribute in regions where the climate allows cacao tree cultivation. In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovers America. On some of his various voyages, he obtains cacao beans but does not realize their significance or value. It is only in 1519, when the conquistador Hernan Cortes reaches Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, for the first time, that Europeans understand the importance of xocolatl, which is translated into Spanish as chocolate. After the conquest of the Aztec empire, cacao beans are imported to Europe. However, at first, the Spanish do not appreciate the bitterness of this exotic beverage. Some then have the idea of sweetening it by adding sugar, cinnamon, or honey. Hot chocolate quickly becomes highly desired and turns into a luxury product reserved for European royal courts and the aristocracy. Meanwhile, some doctors and pharmacists begin using cacao for medicinal purposes. At the end of the 16th century in the Spanish Netherlands, religious tensions arise between Catholics and Protestants, leading to the independence of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Protestant and Jewish merchants from Antwerp then flee to Amsterdam. With a strong knowledge of maritime trade routes, they establish companies that quickly dominate the Indian Ocean at Portugal's expense and enter the Americas without Spain's consent. They settle in particular on the island of Curaçao, from where expeditions travel up the Iaracuí River to purchase cacao beans from local populations. Later, they even obtain permission from Spain to establish a trading post at the river's mouth, allowing people from the entire region to exchange their cacao harvests for fabrics, wine, and pepper. The Dutch dominate the cacao market, especially given that the cacao tree is a fragile plant and difficult to domesticate, leading other European powers in the Caribbean to favor easier crops such as sugarcane, coffee, and tobacco. At the same time, in Europe, the Industrial Revolution creates opportunities for the invention of new and much more efficient mechanical grinders, enabling the effortless production of larger quantities of cacao paste of higher quality. In 1828, Dutchman Conrad Van Houten creates an hydraulic press so effective that he manages to extract all the fat from the beans, which is called cocoa butter. Van Houten then has the idea of mixing the remaining solid part, known as cocoa powder, with alkalized salt, making it easy to dissolve in water or milk for drinking. In 1847, English company Fry & Sons discovers an ideal combination of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sugar to create the first solid chocolate bar. In 1857, in Brussels, Swiss pharmacist Jean Neuhaus has the idea of coating his bitter-tasting medicines with chocolate. His descendants will later replace the medicine with cream and invent the praline, which will become a national delicacy. In Germany, the company Jordan & Timaeus has been selling a semi-solid chocolate made with donkey milk since 1839. In 1875, Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter improves upon the recipe by replacing the donkey milk with powdered milk, a recent invention by his compatriot Henri Nestle. Milk chocolate bars quickly become a phenomenal success. Four years later, another Swiss chocolatier, Rodolf Lindt, accidentally discovers a new method of producing a smoother and creamier cacao paste. Chocolate is now transformed and consumed in a myriad of ways, and demand explodes in Europe and the United States. In terms of cacao bean production, Latin America struggles to meet demand, especially as Venezuela and Brazil are gradually moving away from this fragile crop in favor of coffee and rubber. Ecuador becomes the world's largest cacao producer, but Europeans have already introduced the cacao tree to tropical regions of West Africa, where its cultivation quickly develops. First in the Portuguese colony of São Tomé, which still practices a form of forced labor, then on the British Gold Coast, which later will become Ghana, and finally in French West Africa, in present-day Côte d'Ivoire. In 1936, the Swiss company Nestle invents white chocolate by removing cocoa powder from the milk chocolate preparation. During World War II, the United States includes a chocolate bar in soldiers' rations. After the war, cacao production rises again in Brazil. Meanwhile, in Africa, Ghana, followed by Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria gain independence and focus on cacao production to develop their economies. Global production surges and cacao prices drop, producing countries then regularly meet to try to establish a common policy and maintain high cacao prices through quotas and stock management. However, negotiations fail, and cacao prices remain low, especially as new competitors emerge in Asia, notably Malaysia and Indonesia. Small producers face increasing difficulties, while on the other hand, four giants of the food industry dominate the chocolate market, Mondelēz, Mars, Nestle, and Ferrero, which together account for half of the world's processed chocolate sales. Today, around 5 million tons of cacao are produced annually. Africa alone produces 70% of the world's cacao, with Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana leading the way by a wide margin. However, these countries are frequently criticized for child exploitation in cacao farming. In terms of consumption, while the United States is the world's largest chocolate importer, Europe is the continent with the highest per capita chocolate consumption, with Switzerland, Austria, and Germany leading the ranking. Finally, of the 115 billion dollars that the chocolate market represents, only 5 to 7 percent goes to producers.