For a contrast I thought I’d now mention a South American producer. Despite their first forays into cocoa production, they’re not such prolific growers these days. Venezuela isn’t even the biggest South American producer (that accolade goes to Brazil) but I chose this country, as it’s renowned for its extremely high quality cocoa.

Venezuela did, at one time, claim the title of the world’s biggest cocoa producer but that was way back in the seventeenth century and a lot has changed since then. The beans grown are the Criollo variety and these are said to be the finest in the world. This makes Venezuelan cocoa extremely sought after by prestigious chocalatiers creating fine chocolate products. It’s the South American countries generally that specialise in growing this variety and, as it’s not so easy to cultivate as other varieties it tends to be grown with less abundance. As there is a finite stock of beans in Venezuela, producers will often sell an entire harvest to one chocolaiter directly, saving the hassle and price of going through a middle man. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of buyers, as the quality tends to speak for itself.

There has also been something of an organic revolution in Venezuela of late with a number of farmers opting to grow their trees organically. These beans can command a far higher price and, again, this appeals to the more high-end chocolatiers with an upmarket clientele. Now I love a good bar of chocolate but when desperation calls, I’m just as happy with a cheap brand from the corner shop as a box of handmade chocs!

Well I thought it was about time that we took a closer look at some of the biggest chocolate producing countries. As Ghana produces somewhere in the region of one-quarter of the world’s cocoa beans, I figured this would be a good place to start. Cocoa is an extremely important part of the country’s economy and it has been grown here since the mid 1900s. Ghana was at one time the world leader in terms of cocoa production but it was hit by a dramatic drop in prices on the world market in the 1970s. This forced many producers to abandon cocoa production altogether in favour of more lucrative crops. However, as prices stabilised and production was encourage, people have been tempted back to the wonderful cocoa tree and the country is back up to the top of world production.

One of the reasons for the success of Ghana in the cocoa production stakes is probably the fact that it produces some top-quality cocoa beans. Most of this is exported to other countries and made into chocolate. In fact, much of the cocoa produced around the world is grown for export: the countries that make the most chocolate don’t actually grow the trees themselves, as they don’t have the right climate. As with other African cocoa producers, most of the cocoa beans grown in Ghana are from smallholdings. There are somewhere in the region of two million cocoa farms in Ghana, which sounds like an incredible number but when you consider that most of them only produce a relatively small amount, it makes sense. Many farmers are at the mercy of fluctuating world prices and this can have a dramatic impact on their livelihood from one year to the next.

So, how exactly does a knobbly looking pod, filled with a load of little beans end up being a delicious bar of smooth, creamy chocolate? Well, there’s a pretty complicated process involved and I’m happy to leave it to the professionals and just enjoy the end results.

Cocoa pods are ready to pick when they’ve turned green. They have to be harvested at just the right time to ensure the correct amount of cocoa butter, which in turn will have a big impact on the final flavour of the chocolate. The seeds are removed from the pod, along with the rind and the rest of pod is tossed aside, no longer required. After harvesting comes fermentation and this is basically the process that separates the seeds from the pulp and begins the transformation into the more recognisable and usable cocoa beans. All the seeds and pulp are laid out on racks for a number of days. The pulp goes gooey and drains away, leaving behind the wonderful seeds. It’s at this stage that the seeds are promoted and can now be called ‘beans’. The beans then need to dry out completely before they can be used to create chocolate. This can be done naturally under the blazing sun, or artificially in big heated vats. Most producers choose the natural method and I have to say I like the idea of my cocoa beans having a bit of a sunbathe.

And now the beans are ready to safely stored before undergo a magical transformation into chocolate.

Despite originating in Central and South America, cocoa is now grown in a much larger area and the biggest producers are actually in West Africa. This is due to the expansion of production and the opening of new markets. It’s all down to supply and demand really and people will always want chocolate. It’s one of those products that works on two levels. It can be fantastically expensive and saved for an extremely special occasion or it can just be a simple treat – a bar of chocolate bought from the newsagents at the end of a busy day. For that reason, it will always be popular and it was necessary to find new areas to produce it. Currently, there are eight major cocoa producing countries in the world. They are:

Ivory Coast
Ghana
Indonesia
Brazil
Nigeria
Cameroon
Malaysia
Ecuador

There are obviously countless others but these are the big players and the ones that supply most of the world’s cocoa beans. Production does tend to change year on year and will very much depend on the climatic conditions and the harvest for that particular year. However, The Ivory Coast and Ghana tend to produce around half of all the cocoa, which is the equivalent to a whole lot of chocolate bars. It’s quite nice to know, however, that most of the cocoa produced in Africa is grown on relatively small farms, rather than huge plantations. These farms tend to be owned and run by families, ensuring that profits can be fed back into the family business.