How Chocolate is Made

Chocolate begins not as a bar or bonbon, but as a fruit. Every stage of its transformation—from tropical pod to finished chocolate—shapes its flavor, texture, and health potential.

1. Harvesting the Cacao Pods

Chocolate starts with the Theobroma cacao tree, grown in tropical regions near the equator. Large, football-shaped pods are harvested by hand and split open to reveal cacao beans surrounded by sweet, white pulp.

2. Fermentation: Where Flavor Is Born

The beans and pulp are piled into boxes or heaps and left to ferment for several days. This step is essential. Fermentation develops chocolate’s characteristic flavor and begins forming beneficial compounds, including precursors to cocoa flavanols.

Poor fermentation results in flat, bitter, or acidic chocolate. No amount of processing can fully fix this later.

3. Drying the Beans

After fermentation, beans are spread in the sun to dry. Drying stabilizes the beans for transport and storage while further refining flavor. At this stage, cacao b…