Glossary
Cocoa and chocolate
Table of contents:
Glossary
Cocoa and chocolate
Table of contents:
Agroforestry system
Working and living conditions of cocoa famers
Conching
Harvest
Fair trade
Fermentation
Histamine intolerance
Cocoa contents
Cocoa tree
Cocoa butter
Cocoa fruit
Chocolate liquor
Child labour
Smallholdings
Colonialism
Cultural history
Lactose intolerance
Food allergies
Food intolerance
Lecithin
Milk powder
Mixed cultivation
Monoculture
Sustainability
Plantations
Roasting
Chocolate manufacturing
Certification marks
Transport
Vanilla/Vanillin
Conditions of growth
Celiac disease
Sugar
1
Agroforestry system
In agroforestry systems, cocoa trees are planted alongside shade-tolerant plants as well as soil-surface plants and crops to simulate a natural rainforest environment. The cocoa trees are spaced further apart to lower thespread of pests and diseases. Pesticides and fertiliser are generally unnecessarywhich enables environmentally friendly farming. The variety of vegetation guards against erosion and, above all, from soil leaching.
Although the cocoa yield from this form of planting is relatively low, the producers have additional sources of food and income from the crops planted alongside the cocoa trees. The organic certification attained through using this system makes it possible to sell the cocoa at higher prices.
Working and living conditions of cocoa famers
The number of cocoa farmers worldwide is estimated to be around five to six million. When their families are included, we can assume that around 40 to 50 million people are dependenton cocoa farming.
The living and working conditions of cocoa farmers and their families differ widely from country to country, and even from region to region. Conditionsvary also depending on whether the farmers are smallholders with their own land, or labourers working on large plantations. In many places, price falls over the past decade have seen conditions worsen for cocoa farmers. The decrease in earning potential often leads to an increase in child labour.
It is difficult to calculate how much a cocoa farmer usually earns.Cocoa farmers in Ghana, for example, have in recent years earned around 30 to 50 per cent of the world market price. In many cocoa-growing countries, cocoa farmers are among the poorer, or even the poorest members of society.
Conching
Conching is an important process in the production of chocolate (see “Chocolate production”) which was invented in 1879 by Rodolphe Lindt. The process has four aims: reducing moisture in the chocolate liquor, enhancing the desired flavours, removing the undesired flavours, and achieving the desired consistency.
In order to achieve these aims, chocolate liquor undergoes conching involvingsimultaneous tempering and mechanical processing. Extra heat is added to the heat caused from fiction to reach conching temperatures of up to 90°C. Conching takes between 12 and 72 hours, depending on the recipe. The process reduces moisture in the chocolate to below one per cent, suppresses undesirable flavouring substances, and fully releases the pleasant flavourings. In addition, movement and heat causes fat to coat the miniscule particles in the chocolate (e.g. sugar) to create a smoother liquor.
Harvest
As soon as the cocoa fruits ripen, they are carefully cut from the tree using a machete or hook knife fastened to a long pole. The worker must take care during this process not to damage the cocoa tree or the fruits. After being harvested, the fruits are taken to a collection point and piled up before being opened. The workers do this by holdingthe fruit in their hands and cutting it in two halves with a machete.
Inside the fruits are the cocoa beanswhich are removed along with the pulp and piled on banana leaves. Next, the piles are covered with banana leaves and left for around one week in the open air. Over the week, the pulp begins to ferment and seeps into the cocoa beans which partly breaks down the bitter constituents of the beans and markedly improves their taste. This process is called fermentation (see “Fermentation”).
Finally, the cocoa beans must be dried, which takes around one week. Drying reduces the moisture content enough to enable the cocoa beans to be transported.
Fair trade
The history of fair trade begins in the 1970s. At that time, the gradual fall of the world market price for cocoa led to the first negotiations of an international cocoa agreement. The main idea was to improve working and living conditions for cocoa producers by paying higher and, above all, more stable prices. This agreement and all further attempts failed, which led to various private organisations being founded. These set out to establish fair trade between the cocoa producers and the cocoa consumers and manufacturers.
In the early 1990s, the first initiatives appeared for fair-trade certification marks, which are still active today. The certification marks stipulate a minimum price for fairly traded cocoa, which includes a fixed sum for social and ecological investment. If the world market price for cocoa rises, so too does that for fair-traded cocoa. An amount for social and ecological investment is thenadded to this price. An additional premium is paid for cocoa from certified organic farms.
Today, in order to be able to sell a product with a fair-trade certification mark, certain standards must be reached. These include, among others, regulated working conditions, and bans on discrimination, exploitative child labour and dangerous chemicals. Furthermore, farming must be environmentally friendly andprotect natural resources.Also, minimum prices and premiums are paid, harvests are pre-financed and trade relationships are transparent and reasonable.
Fermentation
Fermentation is an important step in the processing of cocoa beans. It follows immediately after the harvest of the cocoa fruits (see “Harvest”). Different cocoa-growing regions use different techniques, and the length of the fermentation depends on the method used and the variety of cocoa: high-quality fine cocoa varieties take two to three days, whereas bulk cocoa needs between six and ten days.
During fermentation, a number of chemical processes are at work to decompose the fruit pulp through yeasts and bacteria. The piles of fruit pulp and cocoa beans warm to a temperature of between 45 and 52°C. Alcoholic fermentation caused by the yeasts produces ethanol from the sugar in the pulp. Oxygen quickly dissipates and bacteria convert the remaining sugar, as well as the ethanol, into acetic acid. To optimise the process, only ripe fruits should be usedbecauseof their particularly high sugar content. The acetic acid produced is taken up by the beans, the beans macerate and germs are killed.
Through this process, the cocoa beans take on their characteristic cocoa aroma and ultimately their brown colouring. During the whole process, the beans must be frequently turned and aired in order to ensure an even fermentation process.
Histamine intolerance
Histamine intolerance is a maladjustmentto histamine and its breakdown. In healthy people, histamine ingested in food is broken down relatively quickly in the small intestine, but histamine intolerance means this process fails toproperly function. The exact cause has not yet been explained, but it is believed that the enzymes required to break down histamine are either inactive or too few. Histamine intolerance causes allergy-like symptoms which is why it is also described as a pseudoallergy. Symptoms are typical allergy-related indicators such as itching or erythema, but also those related to the gastro-intestinal tract. Histamine is not only found in chocolate, but also in beer, wine or very mature cheeses.
Cocoa contents
Some contents in cocoa are said to enhance health and wellbeing, e.g. serotonin and dopamine which are classed as mood elevators. Other contents include minerals such as calcium or magnesium, but also dietary fibre and, for example, vitamin E. Theobromine has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system and circulation. The flavanols contained in cocoa, through their positive effects on blood vessel elasticity, help to lower blood pressure and may thereforereduce the risk of stroke. Cocoa butter is often used for cosmetic products because it is thought to slow the signs of aging skin and provides a great deal of moisture.
Cocoa tree
The cocoa tree is a tropical plant that grows in the undergrowth of tropical rainforests in Africa, America and Asia. It can grow to a height of up to 20 metres and bears on the trunk and thicker branches around 100 to 300 fruits per year. Due to stable climatic conditions, the tree constantly produces flowers and ripe and unripe fruits simultaneously. For this reason there is no clear harvesting season. Cocoa fruits can be harvested throughout the year though usually there are two main harvests. On plantations, the tree is pruned to a height of a few metres. Cocoa trees can live up to 100 years.
Cocoa butter
Cocoa beans consist of more than 50% fat, known as cocoa butter. This can be extracted by pressing the beans. Cocoa butter is golden yellow in its liquid form and turns a whitish yellow when chilled. It has a unique cocoa butter taste and is used especially in the process of making white chocolate.
Cocoa fruit
The cocoa fruit is around 10 to 32 centimetres in length and weighs between 300 and 1,000 grams. Depending on the variety, cocoa fruits can be yellow, red or violet, and contain around 20 to 60 cocoa beans embedded in a white pulp. Though the cocoa beans are unappetising in their natural state, the pulp, which has a lightly sweet flavour, is easily edible. In some cocoa-growing countries, the pulp is used to produce a drink. The rind is usually also used, for example as fertiliser, animal feed, or in the production of soap.
Cocoa beans are naturally very bitter, a taste that becomes milder only by processing the beans. They must be peeled before they are processed to make chocolate. Cocoa peel can, for example, be sold in pharmacies in order to make a tea, which has a light cocoa taste and stimulates circulation,as well as a having a diuretic effect. Later, chocolate is produced from the cocoa beans—depending on the variety, between 20 and 40 cocoa beans are needed to make a 100gram bar of chocolate.
Chocolate liquor
For chocolate production, cocoa beans are cleaned, roasted, peeled and ground. The cocoa beans become liquid through the friction created by grinding. When the beans reach this state, the term used is 'chocolate liquor'. Other ingredients, such as sugar or milk powder, are added and the resulting mixture is processed and eventually becomes chocolate.
Child labour
Child labour in the cocoa industry is particularly widespread in West Africa, mainly caused by lack of education and poverty. The income from cocoa is often the sole source of income for cocoa farmers and their families. Fluctuations in the world market price also affect farmer incomes. In general, cocoa prices have fallen in the past decade while the costs for the farmers have not and may even have increased. A further explanation is that adult workers demand wages that the farmers are either unwilling or unable to pay.
The tasks for children are varied. They help with the harvest, collection and opening of the cocoa fruits, as well as with packing and loading the beans. These tasks are often unsuited to the children's ages. The risk of injury is very high due to the use of sharp tools such as machetes, andthe children may also suffer from illnesses caused by contact with chemicals. Children are often poorly paid, and sometimes not paid at all, and have very limited or absolutely no access to education.
Smallholdings
Between 80 and 90 per cent of the cocoa produced worldwide is grown by smallholders. Smallholdings are found above all in West Africa, but also in Central and South America and Papua New Guinea. The farmers work on an area of between half a hectare and five hectares (a football pitch is approximately 0.7 hectares), mostly in the form of mixed cultivation. Cocoa is grown alongside a number of other crops, either for the farmer's own use or for re-sale. This method of cultivation is based on the different levels found in rainforests. A functional ecosystem is produced which means there is no soil leaching and the cocoa is protected from sun and wind from the shade of larger trees.
The yield from smallholdings is extremely varied with many factors playing a role. As well as climatic conditions, the variety of cocoa, disease, insect infestations and the age of the cocoa trees all have major impacts.
Colonialism
In basic terms, colonialism describes the practice of European countries extending their sovereignty into areas outside Europe. The driving force behind these efforts was the desire to increase the wealth of the colonial rulers. They strove to collect goods, raw materials or plants, which were rare, expensive and desirable back in Europe. Cocoa was one of these. This was transformed from a luxury good, which was at first reserved only for the affluent classes, into an everyday product. In the African colonies, the Europeans founded cocoa plantations, dispossessed local people and used slaves to provide for their cocoa and chocolate consumption. Advertising was also influenced by colonialism: the chocolate industry presented exotic images to advertise its products, and in Europe repeatedly used the prevailing stereotypes of African peoples.
Cultural history
Chocolate has been prepared In Mesoamericafor over 5,000 years. It was usually consumed as a drink, with cocoa beans first being roasted over a fire and then shelled. The beans were then ground to a paste on a so-called metate (grinding stone). When the paste was mixed with cornmeal, flat cocoa cakes were produced which might be considered as precursors of our chocolate bars. These were very nutritious and were especially favoured by soldiers as provisions. The cocoa paste was however usuallymixed with hot water, producing a relatively thick and foamy drink, which was generally flavoured with chilli.
Cocoa has a special significance in Mesoamerican cultures. It was regarded as a holy drink and used as medicine, and often drunk on special occasions. The peculiar value of cocoa beans is also evident in the fact that it was used as a medium of exchange. A chicken or a rabbit could be bought for ten cocoa beans, a slave for 100.
The first European encounter with cocoa beans took place in 1502. On his fourth journey to America, Christopher Columbus encountered a Mayan trading boat off the coast of contemporary Honduras. Among the boat’s cargo were cocoa beans. Yet the special value of cocoa beans to Mesoamerican cultures wentunnoticed by Columbus.
It was Hernán Cortés who first recognised their importance when he arrived inCentral America in 1519. He used chocolate as provisions for his soldiers and invested in cocoa plantations to produce cocoa beans which he could then use as currency. It is not certain when cocoa beans first arrived in Europe. It is, however, attested that they first appeared at the Spanish royal court in 1544 and the first large shipment of cocoa arrived in Seville in 1585 from Veracruz.
In Europe, chocolate became a luxury drink. Because of its expensive ingredients and labour intensive production, it was reserved primarily for the nobility and high clergy. These groups usually drank chocolate from expensive porcelain cups, many of which were specially manufactured for the enjoyment of chocolate. In contrast to the Mesoamerican peoples, chocolate in Europe was always enjoyed warm and sweetened. Chocolate was therefore dosed with cane sugar, also very expensive and making chocolate a luxury drink. As well as sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and many other ingredients were also added to chocolate.
Following its arrival in Europe, chocolate was often sold in pharmacies because it was considered a medicinal substance. Scholarly publications of the time emphasised chocolate’s special nutritional value and its effects on various medical complaints and diseases.
In the course of the 19th century, chocolate transformed from a luxury to a common consumer good. Chocolate manufacturers made increasing use of machines and steam power which led to a significant reduction in costs. In addition, raw materials such ascocoa and sugar were easier to obtain thanks to improved cultivation conditions and means of transportation, meaning that chocolate gradually became affordable to a broader public. From the middle of the 19th century, chocolate bars came to take the place of drinking chocolate. Cocoanow became a drink, a development made possible by the manufacture of the cocoa butter press in 1828.