Exploring Cocoa
You might have wondered before 'why does popping a bit of chocolate makes us feel so happy', although the answer not as satisfying as the feeling of happiness itself.
The cacao tree's history dates back to more than 5300 years, but it was only after it first appeared in Europe that its commercial usage began, making it easily available as a more refined product, now chocolate is consumed all over the world with current estimates on over 113B USD as of 2021, and is expected to grow to around 2.9% by 2032. In 2021 global supply of cocoa was 4.7m MT, with a demand exceeding 4.6m MT and surplus above 10k MT, global cocoa supply is projected to increase in the upcoming years of 2022-23 to 4.9m MT with the global demand to slope up to more than 5m MT leading to a projected deficit. Cacao beans are currently priced around 1,900 - 2,600 USD per tonne depending on the country, benchmarked at around 2,425 USD per tonne as of 2021. There are more than ten varieties including various hybrids of cacao, but the three main varieties of cacao are criollo , forastero & trinitario, they are the most widely circulated.
➽ Forastero: They make up for around 80% of the world production, preferred for its high yields, robustness and disease resistance. It can be a bit bitter, dark, hard and acidic but gives a full bodied taste, it is often mixed with other varieties to enhance flavour, some sub varieties of forastero are cundeamor, amelonado, calabacillo etc offering a slightly different taste, it is cultivated in several parts of West Africa, India, Southeast Asia, South America etc.
➽ Criollo: It is mostly grown in the Central and South America and certain parts of Asia, it is a rare variety and is highly prized due to its low yields and vulnerability to disease accounting to less than 1% of total worlds cacao production, it is pale in colour with a soft buttery texture and mild delicate nutty flavour notes, they are used in high end chocolate products. Some varieties of criollo are carupano, porcelana, chuao, puerto cabello etc.
➽ Trinitario: This is a hybrid variety of criollo and forastero varieties, it is widely cultivated in parts of Africa, Central and South America mostly Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, Cameroon, Madagascar, Caribbean, Srilanka, Southeast Asia etc, accounting for about 10% of world's total production. They have obtained the aroma and flavour from criollo, high yield and disease resistance from forastero, they are highly sought after by manufacturers for its complex flavours, which can range from fruity and spicy to nutty and chocolatey having a medium dark and soft texture.