The management of the above mentioned company is looking forward to employ both men and women living in United State,Canada,and United Kingdom to work for us as CASH REPRESENTATIVE OFFICER in order to meet with the demand of our clients in their respective countries.We export COCOA SEED to the aforementioned countries for their consumption.
Interested people contact our administrative officer at cocoaexportingfirm@yahoo.com with their Name,Adress and Phone number for more information.
The origin of chocolate dates back to the year of 1500 B.C.. Researches show that the Olmeca civilization, from the lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico, was the first to make use of the fruit of the cocoa tree. Archeological evidence proves that, shortly thereafter, the Mayas, Toltecas and Aztecas also used cocoa, and regarded it as “the food of Gods”.
| In those days, cocoa was used as a drink and was usually combined with a spice. It was drunk by high priests during religious rituals. Around that same time, cocoa beans were so valuable that they were used as currency, a means of exchange, a referential value. Historically, it was Christopher Columbus, in his fourth trip to the New World around 1502, who discovered cocoa for Europe. |  |
Supposedly, he took cocoa beans to King Fernando II, and the seeds were hardly noticed amidst all other riches brought by Columbus.
In 1519, Hernando Cortez discovered cocoa during his conquers in Mexico. The Spaniards did not appreciate the drink and considered it too cold, fatty and bitter. However, they soon realized the importance of the seed as a referential of value and trade currency. In the name of the Spanish Crown, cocoa began to be planted in Mexico where the “currency” would be cultivated. In 1528, Cortez brought cocoa back to Spain, together with the necessary tools to benefit it.
As time went by, the Spaniards began to add sugar and other sweeteners to the drink, making it less bitter and more palatable, more pleasing to the European taste. They began to drink it hot, and, thus, hot cocoa was on its way to become a favorite of the Spanish elite. Also at that time, cocoa began to be processed into tablets, which were more easily transformed into liquid. During the next 150 years, the novelty spread through the rest of Europe and its use was widespread in France, England, Germany, and Italy among others. Several ingredients continued to be added to the liquid cocoa, such as milk, wine, beer, sugar and spices. It was only in 1755 that cocoa appeared in the United States. In 1795, the British started to use steam machines to grind the cocoa beans.
This invention set off the production of chocolate in a larger scale. However, the real chocolate revolution occurred 30 years later, when the Dutch developed a hydraulic press which, for the first time, allowed for the separate extraction of cocoa liquor and cocoa cake. The cake was pulverized to become cocoa powder, which, added to alkaline mineral salts, would easily dissolve in water. From then on, the development into chocolaty drinks was quick. And the following addition of cocoa butter allowed for the production the first chocolate tablets, relatively similar to the ones we have today.
In a short time, Spain, which practically had the monopoly over cocoa, lost its hegemony to England, France, Holland and others.
THEOBROMA CACAU
 |
The cocoa tree, theobroma cacao (theobroma comes from the Greek “food of Gods”), is an equatorial and tropical tree, which grows between latitudes 20° South and 20° North. It is a shade tree, which thrives at heights between 400 and 700 meters above sea level.
It needs regular rainfall and a deep and fertile soil. |
It is a fragile, delicate tree, sensitive to extreme climatic conditions, and very vulnerable to fungal diseases. The height of a mature tree ranges between 5-10 meters and the first fruits can be harvested approximately 2 to 3 years after planting.
| The tree matures at 10 years of age and, under exceptional circumstances, may produce during up to 50 years. The small flowers grow directly from the branches and trunk and take 5 to 7 months to turn into mature fruits. The size of the oval-shaped, mature fruit varies from 15 to 30 centimeters in length and 8 to 13 in width.
Each fruit or “pod” contains 20 to 40 seeds, involved in a soft brownish-white pulp. When ripe, the fruit is harvested, opened, the seeds are separated, dried and fermented. |
 |
The fruit must be treated immediately after harvest, to avoid rotting.
Twenty four hours after opening the fruit, the process of fermentation begins, with the main goal of ridding the seed of its mucilaginous pulp, destroying the embryo (to avoid germination of the seed) and provoke chemical and enzymatic reactions in the internal part of the seeds.
The process of fermentation is carried out on appropriate wooden barges, and lasts between 3 and 8 days.
Its importance to cocoa quality has been well established, thus developing flavor and aroma.
After fermentation, the cocoa still contains around 60% of water, which needs to be removed.
 |
In the drying stage, the cocoa beans are spread in the sun and turned regularly to maintain the seeds aired and prevent the formation of mold. Natural drying, in the sun, allows for quality cocoa.
Artificial drying, with the heat of a wood fire for example, is not recommended and not at all acceptable, as it impregnates the beans with a smell of smoke. |
Once dried, the cocoa beans are bagged into 60 kilos sacks and dispatched to warehouses or processing centers.
THE PROCESSING OF COCOA BEANS
Once cleaned, the seeds are roasted, with the main objective of improving the aroma. This also facilitates shelling. At the end of this completely automated roasting process, the cocoa beans go through a quick cooling process to avoid the internal burning of the seeds. In the next stage, the beans are shelled, and what is left is called nib, the core of the clean seed. After that, the nibs are ground into a paste of fine particles (20 to 30 microns), called cocoa liquor or cocoa mass. This mass can be either used to make cocoa powder or chocolate. In the case of powder chocolate, the mass is squeezed by hydraulic presses, producing cocoa butter on one side and cocoa cake on the other.
 |
The cocoa butter is considered the noblest (and most expensive) sub-product of the pressing. It has a light yellow color, with an aroma comparable to that of the chocolate, but with the advantage of not becoming rancid and having good conservation characteristics.
It also has the organoleptic quality of going from liquid to solid without altering its physical characteristics. |
The cocoa cake goes through one more process of grinding to obtain a fine powder of different granulations. This powder can be alkalized to become more soluble.
CHOCOLATE
To produce chocolate, the cocoa mass is mixed with sugar, cocoa butter and possibly milk. The producers have their own specific formula for each of their products, in which the proportion of ingredients varies according to the final product. The manufacture of chocolate encompasses five basic stages: mixing, refining, conching, tempering and molding. In the mixing or malaxation process, the cocoa mass is mixed with other raw materials, until a homogenous mass is obtained. In the refining process, this mass goes through grinders which reduce its particles to 15/20 microns.
After that, comes the conching process, a crucial stage as it gives the chocolate its firmness and sumptuousness. It is a slow process, which can last from 12 hours to 5 days. In the next stage, the tempering, the chocolate is tempered to go from liquid to solid, through a process of crystallization.
The last stage is molding, where the chocolate is molded and then goes through a cooling tunnel (10/12 degrees Celsius). At the end of the tunnel, the chocolate is withdrawn from the molds. This is a highly delicate process - any mistake, especially in the conching and tempering stages, may cause the loss of a whole production lot.
THE COCOA MARKET In the last 50 years, the world production of cocoa beans went from approximately 800,000 to 3,000,000 metric tons per year.
Nowadays, most of the production comes from Western Africa, where four countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Camaroon and Nigeria) are responsible for 65% of the world cocoa production.
Indonesia and Malaysia also have a significant production. Brazil, which was in the past the world’s largest producer (40%), is responsible today for only 4% of the total. Nowadays, 8 countries account for 91% of the world production of cocoa beans.
The biggest importers are the United States, Holland, Germany, England and France. Together, they account for more than 60% of the world imports. In terms of per capita consumption, at the top of the list are the EEC countries and the United States.
