The cacao trees mature at five years and begin to flower on the trunk. The flowers are pollinated by midges, a small fly. (There are no bees in the Dominican Republic). Pollinated flowers produce ...

Cacao is made from the beans of the Theobroma cacao evergreen tree. The tree belongs to the Malvaceae family, and the beans can be used to make edible products, such as powders, butter, and nibs.

But this chocolate uses 100%. And this process uses just one ingredient: Raw cacao. The chocolate making process starts with the cacao pods. The beans are pulled from the pods and are lightly ...

It makes a fruit called cacao beans. Raw beans can be crushed into cacao powder. But if the beans are roasted first, they become cocoa powder. Unroasted cacao powder is more bitter than cocoa powder.

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.

Cocoa was the best performing commodity in 2024, outpacing even bitcon, as prices surged 132 percent, hitting a record high of ...

Our first “job” was to plant raw cacao beans in small bags filled with rich soil, covering them with wood ash to discourage pests and provide fertilizer. We then placed these bags in the ...