Theobroma cacao

The Sweet Story of Cacao Trees

Theobroma cacao, also called the cacao tree or cocoa tree, is a small, lovely tree that grows in warm places. It is part of the Malvaceae family, which has many different kinds of plants. The magic of this tree is inside its seeds, called cocoa beans. These beans are what we use to make chocolate!

Cacao trees like to live in the warm, rainy parts of the world, called the tropics. They grow naturally from Mexico all the way to the Amazon basin. Today, the biggest grower of cocoa beans is Côte d'Ivoire. People have enjoyed chocolate from these beans for hundreds of years, and now children and adults all around the world love it.

Cacao trees have long, smooth leaves and beautiful flowers that grow right on the trunk. These flowers are small and pink, and tiny flies help them grow. The tree makes a special round fruit called a cacao pod. When it is ready, the pod turns orange. Inside each pod are sweet white pulp and about 20 to 60 cocoa beans. We use these beans to make chocolate, and the sweet pulp can even be made into juice or smoothies!

The name Theobroma comes from old Greek. It means “food of the gods.” The word cacao comes from the language of people in Mesoamerica, like the Nahuatl language. It means “bean of the cocoa-tree.” isn’t that fun?

Cacao trees need warm, wet forests to grow best. They often grow under bigger trees, where they feel right at home. It takes about four or five years for a cacao tree to start making its special pods. One big tree can have up to 6,000 flowers but will only make about 20 pods each year. To make just one kilogram of chocolate, we need about 1,200 beans from 40 pods!

All around the world, farmers grow cacao beans on their farms. Small farmers and big companies both help make chocolate. There are three main kinds of cocoa beans: Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. Most chocolate today uses Forastero beans because they are strong, healthy, and less expensive. Famous chocolate companies like Hershey's, Nestlé, and Mars use these beans to make the chocolate we love.