The cacao bean is the fruit of the tree Theobroma cacao, (Cacao, food of the gods) which grow up in tropical regions such as Mexico, Central America, South America, West Indies, and African West Coast. The word cocoa is an altered form of the native word cacao. The beans are embedded in pods on the tree, 20-30 beans per pod. When ripe, the pods are cut from the trees, and after drying, the beans are detached from the pods and allowed to ferment, 10 days (microbiological and enzymatic fermentation). Beans then are washed, dried, sorted, graded and shipped.

At the processing plant, beans are roasted, seed coat detached - called the nib. The nib is ground, friction melts the fat and the nibs flow from the grinding as a liquid, called as chocolate liquor.

Liquor: 55% fat, 17% carbohydrate, 11% protein, 6% tannins and a lot of other compounds (bitter chocolate - baking).

Cocoa butter: Fat removed from chocolate liquor, narrow soften range 30 to 36^oC

Cocoa: After the cocoa butter is hard-pressed from the chocolate liquor, the remaining press cake is now material for cocoa manufacture.