Squirrels appeared to be making the situation worse by grabbing cocoa bean pods and eating them. But those raids had an unexpected benefit - cocoa seeds were spread all over the farm. "All the ...

When the seeds are dried in the sun they turn a brownish colour and are known as cocoa beans The ingredients for ... suggesting the ground seeds of the cocoa pod were being mixed into a concoction ...

"The cacao pods have to grow on the trees, the farmers have to harvest the pods, take out the beans, ferment them, dry them, all with super high quality," said Monica Rogan. Every step of the ...

The beans are then removed from the pods with their surrounding pulp. Workers fill sacks with cocoa beans in Kahin village at the edge of the Scio forest reserve in Duekoue, Ivory Coast.

Cacao beans held great prominence in the daily lives of Mesoamerican Indians. According to the Mayan and Mexica religions, cacao had divine origins as the god Quetzalcoatl discovered cacao.

Though they were originally disappointed to find that cacao pods didn’t have Hershey’s kisses inside, they were up for the work required to grow their own pods and use the interior beans to ...