| Did you know chocolate was originated in Central | | | | cacao beans were worth one Spanish real.The |
| America? That it used to be a treat only to the | | | | Spanish helped develop cacao plantations in |
| rich? Chocolate has a fascinating history!The | | | | Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica and |
| Olmecs occupied a small area south of Veracruz | | | | Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Cacao |
| and were the first cultivators of the cacao pod. | | | | production has since spread all over the world but |
| The Mayans were next, just south of present | | | | the cacao from these original regions still produce |
| day Mexico, to elevate chocolate to status of the | | | | the most highly prized variety of cacao bean. The |
| Gods. They named the cacao tree Cacahuaquchtl | | | | first ever chocolate processing plant was set up in |
| (tree) as they were concerned no other tree was | | | | Spain in 1580. From then on the popularity of |
| worth naming. They believed the tree belonged to | | | | chocolate gradually spread to the other European |
| the gods and that the pods growing from the | | | | countries.The Dutch transplanted the tree to their |
| tree were an offering from the gods to man. | | | | East Indian states in the early seventeenth |
| They Mayans were the originators of a bitter | | | | century and from there it spread to the |
| brew made from cacao beans. It was a luxury | | | | Philippines, New Guinea, Samoa and Indonesia with |
| drink enjoyed by kings and noblemen. Thankfully | | | | a large degree of success made possible by the |
| we can all enjoy chocolate now!Christopher | | | | exploitation of hundreds of thousands of African |
| Columbus, in 1502, reached the island of Guanaja | | | | slaves. In the early nineteenth century the |
| off the coast of Honduras. As legend goes he | | | | Portuguese transplanted Brazilian cacao saplings to |
| was greeted by natives that gave him a sackful | | | | the island of Sao Tome off the African coast and |
| of cacao beans in exchange for some of his own | | | | later to West Africa. By the end of the |
| merchandise. When Cortes arrived seventeen | | | | nineteenth century the Germans had settled it in |
| years later the cacao beans were being used as | | | | Cameroon and British in Sri Lanka. Plantations |
| food and a form of currency. It was reported | | | | have since spread to Southeast Asia and Malaysia |
| that a slave could be bought for one hundred | | | | is now one of the world's leading producers. |
| cacao beans. At the time, two hundred small | | | | |