GROWING COCOA BEANS are usually grown on small plantations in suitable land areas 20 degrees north or south of the Equator. One mature cocoa tree can be expected to yield about five pounds per year.
Cocoa trees take five to eight years to mature. After harvesting from the trees, the pods are split open, beans removed, and the beans are put on trays covered with burlap for about a week until they brown. Then they are sun dried. This normally takes another three days.
After cleaning, the beans are weighed, selected and blended before roasting at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours. Then shells are removed leaving the "nib." Nibs are crushed to create a chocolate "mass." This is the base raw material from which all chocolate products are made.