Discovering Chocolate

One year while attending the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago, Milton was so impressed with the manufacturing of chocolate that when he arrived home he began to find ways to tweak the formula. His first experiment was to put the chocolate over the top of his caramel candies. As time went on, Milton’s fascination began to shift more towards processing milk chocolate in bars, wafers and other forms of delicacies. This discovery eventually led him to sell the

As of October 2012, Andrea Torres, director of new product development at Montreaux Chocolate USA, needs to recommend whether or not the company should pursue a new product launch in the United States. The new product, a 70% cocoa dark chocolate with fruit product, has been tested because of “its heightened revenue potential, better alignment with health and wellness initiatives, and strong consumer acceptance of the proposition” (Quelch 7). This memo will address the

Allison, M. (2013). Fair-trade theo chocolate fairly booming. The Seattle Times, par. 4. Retrieved from http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020664110_theochocolatexml.html(2013). Fair-trade theo chocolate fairly booming. The Seattle Times, par.25. Retrieved from http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020664110_theochocolatexml.htmlBrake, L. (2011). Theo chocolate - the ultimate in green chocolate. Earth Times, par. 2. Retrieved from http://www.earthtimes.org/green-

Historians don’t even know who first discovered the almost magical seeds inside a cacao fruit. In 400 B.C. Indians found the seeds and then turned it into a drink. Mayan Indians were drinking a chocolate beverage, cacao powder mixed with water and spices. The drink spread from them to Europe then the

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao L.) is native to the northwest Amazon basin of South America and the wild species was spread by humans into Southern Mexico and Central America, where it is thought to have been domesticated (Ogata et al. 2006). The data collected by Ogata et al. (2006) supports Mesoamerica as a center of cacao domestication, but also suggests a possible secondary area of domestication in South America. At first, only the cacao pulp was used for its sweet flavour, yet it wasn’t until 1800 BC that the inhabitants of this region discovered how to turn the cacao seeds into chocolate through a process of drying, roasting, and grinding the cacao seeds (Coe and Coe 1996). By the time the Olmec civilization

Alfred Haigh’s, the pioneer of Haigh’s Chocolate, gave the world a taste that is unforgettable in the field of confectionary. On 1st May, 1915 Haigh’s Chocolate open its first store at 34 King William Street, Adelaide. Sadly, he

(Transition: The history of Hershey’s chocolate laid the foundation for the many different types of chocolate eaten today.

Chocolate was previously considered a “delectable symbol of luxury, wealth, and power” (Klein) in the 1500s. Using modern technology, it is now easily produced. While

The transportation cost of chocolate was high and small mom and pop stores commonly supplied chocolate made locally. Today you would be hard-pressed to find local chocolate in the United States, with the shelves dominated by four major brands. The

“The Dark Side of Chocolate” is a documentary that explores the underlying issues prevalent in the cocoa trade. For most first world countries chocolate is seen as an accessible treat, however in third world countries, the production of cocoa creates social issues that must be eliminated. Cocoa trade is one of the largest industries in West African countries, but the issues that arise from such trade do more harm than good. The cocoa plantations are trafficking humans to work on their plantations. Furthermore, most instances suggest that these workers do not receive any compensation for their work and most importantly some of these slave laborers are children. Thus, the three issues that the cocoa companies routinely commit in exchange for lower costs are human trafficking, slave labor, and child labor. These companies are aware of such issues but refuse to actively combat them because they are better off financially. It can be argued that these issues can be mitigated through various social, governmental and political policies aimed at combating these problems. The three main issues will be addressed and the various stakeholders affected by these issues will be analyzed. Then this paper will look at the possible solutions to these issues, whereby through government, social or political means.

The word “cacao” and the first data concerning these valuable beans were derived by Europeans who came to the new World from the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula who made chocolate drinks to their nobility and presented them in beautiful vessels to their rulers. These people were probably the first in human history to turn cacao beans into chocolate. However, the word “cacao” is believed to be much older and originate from “kakwa”, the word of the Olmecs, the earliest of civilizations that existed in the Americas (Coe et al., 457). The old inhabitants of South America realizing the delicious qualities of the cacao fruit tree domesticated it and later spread it from the northwestern part of the Amazon basin along the trade routes. The key event was the invention of converting cacao tree seeds into chocolate that is believed to have taken place around 1800 BC. Maya also benefited from getting cacao as a

Studies at Harvard University have shown that cocoa's largest chocolate component has several health benefits, researchers found that the fruit contains a powerful antioxidant known as flavonoid, can prevent future health problems like cholesterol, heart problems and without speaking that for us women prevents various crises in the famous week of premenstrual tension.

If the company we outsource with has some sort of issue with its equipment or is running behind schedule it will delay our orders and reflect poorly upon our company. If we choose not to do anything we will continue running at inefficient levels costing us more and more money as time goes on.

New evidence is in that eating dark chocolate every day can reduce stress. The study, found that people who rated themselves highly stressed to begin with had lower levels of stress hormones after eating chocolate every day for two weeks. The study's subjects ate 1.4 ounces (40 g) of dark chocolate daily, or a little less than a regular-sized Hershey's bar, which contains 1.55 ounces (44 g). The study adds to a growing body of research showing that certain elements in chocolate — such as antioxidants called polyphenols — can have helpful health benefits. Previous studies found chocolate can help fight heart disease and reduce the chances of developing cancer.

How did these ancient civilizations discover the cacao bean and turn it into an edible and enjoyable state? If chocolate is traced all the way back to where it is grown, we find that these beans are actually harvested from trees. This tree is known as the Theobroma Cacao or simply a cacao tree, a small tropical tree that typically grows under the canopy of much larger trees. In order to prosper it needs to be grown in a hot and humid environment. This tree originated in Central and South America, but today 70% of chocolate and cacao beans are harvested from Africa.