Growing Cocoa
All chocolate products start with the cocoa tree, which
originated in the upper Amazon basin. In the wild, it
grows to 50 feet tall as an "understory" tree in the
shade of towering 200-foot-tall hardwoods and other
trees. Cocoa Trees Aren't Easy To Grow.
They're very picky about where they live. Cocoa trees
require constant warmth and rainfall to thrive. They need
to be shaded from the strong tropical sun and sheltered
from the wind. Cocoa trees grow only in tropical regions
of Africa, Asia, South America and Central America, within
about 15 degrees of the equator.
In The Shade Of Other Trees...
Cocoa trees grow best in the shade of other trees. When
very young, they require deep shade. As they mature,
they require more filtered sunlight. Farmers plant a shade
umbrella of taller trees such as breadfruit, Para rubber,
laurel and various legumes to shelter their cocoa trees. Shade-grown cocoa trees can produce fruit for 75 to 100 years or more.
