Chocolate

=How chocolate is made=

There are many factories that make chocolate in Australia. The [|Cadbury] factory is in Tasmania and there is a [|visitor centre] where you can see chocolate being made. The Cadbury factory imports cacao beans which are grown in Ghana in West Africa and processed in Singapore. =The cacao bean= Chocolate is made from the cacao bean. The beans grow on cacao trees which grow in the wild in South America and Mexico. Nowadays there are cacao tree farms in South America, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia but mostly in Africa.

The cacao tree needs good soil, plenty of rain and a warm, humid climate. The leaves are poisonous, but the cacao pods contain seeds. These seeds (also called 'beans') contain cocoa butter, which is the main ingredient in chocolate.

The cacao pods have to be harvested by hand, and on small farms the whole family helps to get the pods off the trees. They use sharp knives called machetes (//mah-shet-ees//) to cut them off or they knock them down with sticks. Then they split the pods open, get the seeds out and cover them with the fruit pulp.

The pulp ferments and drains away. Then the beans are left to dry in the sun for about five days, The farmer then sells the beans to a company that makes chocolate.

Processing the beans
There are many different machines at the processing factory. Machines clean the beans, and special ovens roast them to bring out the flavour. After that a different machine splits the husk open to get the nib (or kernel), and then another machines grinds the nibs until they are liquid. This liquid is called cocoa mass. The cocoa mass is pressed in powerful machines to make cocoa solids, cocoa butter and cocoa powder, After that the processing factory sends the cocoa solids, cocoa butter and cocoa powder to the chocolate factory.

The chocolate factory
At the factory huge machines mix fresh full cream milk, sugar and cocoa mass together. This makes a thick chocolate liquid. The liquid is heated to evaporate the liquid into milk chocolate crumb. The crumb goes through a pin mill and is mixed with cocoa liquor and cocoa butter, and special chocolate flavouring. Some chocolate is made thin and runny to coat chocolate bars and thick chocolate is used for blocks of chocolate.

Machines then make the chocolate smooth and glossy, and other machines mix and cool the chocolate so that it stays nice, the way that it was made.

Other machines pour the chocolate into moulds, and then the chocolate goes to the wrapping machines. Cadbury wrapping machines can wrap 700 blocks of chocolate per minute!

Blocks and bars of chocolate are packed into cartons, ready for sale.

Transport
Trucks transport the cartons of chocolate to the wholesaler. Supermarkets and shops buy the chocolate from the wholesaler, and sell it to customers.

Check out [|Melba's Chocolates] in South Australia - it shows how chocolate is made in a small factory!

Source: //Chocolate//, by Natalie Jane Prior, Hodder Children's Books, Sydney, Australia, 2000, [|Cadbury: About Chocolate] and []