Process1: Chocolate is fruit

Hello my fellow chocolate lovers,

I am Takanori Chiwata, a chocolate engineer of COCONAMA CHOCOLATE.

Today, I would like to share with you some fun facts about chocolate.

What comes up to your mind when you hear the word “chocolate”?

Maybe sweet, brown chocolate bars or bitter, black dark chocolates. Or even crispy candy-coated chocolates, or those addicting chocolate covered nuts?

I am sure everyone has a special chocolate in mind.

Now the question is, do you know how and what those chocolates are made from?

Correct! Chocolates are indeed made from cacao.

Now, what is cacao? Have you all seen how it looks?

Here is what a cacao fruit would look like in real life.

They are about the size and the shape of rugby ball and a little soft, having a similar texture to that of mangoes. These are called cacao pods.

Some have bumpy surfaces while others are smooth, with each pod differing from one another and making them super unique and adorable!

Even the colours of these pod differ depending on the tree, ranging from yellow, orange, green and more.

This is how these cool fruits grow on the trees.

They grow directly on the barks of the trees! Isn’t that pretty amazing?

Don’t you find them growing in clusters like this quite interesting and mystical?

Chocolate is actually the beans inside these pods.

Look at what this fruit looks like when broken in half!

The beans are inside this white, fluffy pulp.

Let’s call it a day for now.

Next time, I would like to post something along the lines of “How do these cacao beans become chocolate”?  Don’t miss it!

With hopes that you will be able to encounter the perfect chocolate just for you,

Takanori Chiwata