If you love a good dark chocolate or enjoy a cup of hot cocoa often, then you must be interested to find out which are the countries that produce the most cocoa beans in the world. We just love chocolate, which is why we’ve decided to find out which countries we should thank the most for making it possible for us to enjoy our favorite sweet.
Before we head on straight to the list, let’s say something more about the history of growing cocoa trees, its production, and the nutritional value cocoa and chocolate have. After all, if you enjoy consuming cocoa/chocolate, you’ll be happy to hear about the benefits it can have on your health.
In 1753, a botanist from Sweden, Carolus Linnaeus, decided that this precious tree should have a more appropriate name, so he renamed it to Theobroma Cacao, with “Theobroma” meaning “food of the Gods”, and “Cocoa” derived from the Aztec word “xocolatl” in which “xcoc” stands for bitter, and “atl” for water. You’ll be happy to know that this quite suitable name became its official botanical name.
According to historians, the first people who found that cocoa tree fruits are edible indeed were the Olmec – the first major civilization in Mexico. How did they discover it? Well, it is believed that they first saw rats eating it avidly. Yes, thanks to the rodents, we now enjoy eating chocolate. OK, well, not only thanks to the rodents, but also thanks to the Olmec and the people who decided it was a fruit well worth spreading to all corners of the world.
Most of the cocoa trees are grown in the “Cocoa Belt”, which is just a band from ten to twenty degrees south and north of the Equator. A humid tropical climate with enough rain is something that cocoa trees need. If you’ve never seen one, just like me, you’ll be also surprised to read that cocoa trees can reach a height of up to 40 feet (12 meters). Its fruits, in brownish-yellow or purple color, are little bigger than 1 foot ( 30 cm), and they have a treasure inside them, which usually consists of twenty to forty tasty cocoa beans. From those cocoa beans is made chocolate and cocoa powder, but only after the fermentation process is over and the beans are naturally or artificially dried.
As for nutritional value, if you didn’t know, you’ll be happy to hear that cocoa is full of essential minerals such as iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, copper, manganese, zinc to name a few. Some researches have discovered that consuming chocolate reduces stress, bad cholesterol, reduces risk of stroke, and befits are health in so many ways. More about nutritional value og cocoa you can find here. So, how come people always say that eating chocolate is not good for our health? Well, because of the sugar, and other ingredients added, and also it is not good like with any other food to eat it in large amounts.
In order to find out who dominates in the cocoa production world, we’ve used statistic data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Even though only the statistics from 2013 are available, chances are nothing much has changes, since the top cocoa beans producing countries were almost all the same even back in 2001. The order of this list maybe should be a little different this year, but we weren’t able to find the production data for 2014 or 2015. Even though some of the countries on this list below are also among the most advanced countries in agriculture, they are all facing some issues regarding cocoa bean production. You will find out more about it as you go trough the list.
8. Mexico
Production: 82,000 tonnes
Even though Mexico, according to the data from FAO, has found its place on this list of countries that produce the most cocoa beans, it seems that this country was dealing with some issues regarding the production. One of those issues was a lack of support for the cocoa farmers in terms of credit for bringing new agricultural technologies. In the last 15 years (approximately), the production of cocoa beans has been on a decline, but it seems they are getting back on their feet. Some of the biggest chocolate producers in the world like Mars and Hershey are helping Mexico to rebuild its traditional farming industry.
The majority of Mexico’s cocoa bean production, 70%, is coming from the State of Tabasco, where more than 38,000 cocoa farmers live and work. If you have a chance to visit Mexico, go to the State of Tabasco and be sure to visit those beautiful cocoa plantations – the Route of Sacred Cacao.
7. Ecuador
Production: 128,446 tonnes
Not only that Ecuador is one of the top cocoa producing countries, but it is known by its special cocoa, that poses unique aroma. To the world that cocoa is known by the name Arriba cocoa, and it is classified as one of the top class cocoas in the world. What gives it its special flavor is the region where it grows. Nowhere else in the world you can grow Arriba cocoa, or how Ecuadorians call it – Nacional. For Ecuador and its people, cocoa is much more than just a simple agricultural product, it is their “symbol product“, and it takes a big part in their history, economy, and naturally, culture. After all this, it comes as no surprise that from Ecuadorian cocoa are made some of the “world’s best chocolates“.
6. Brazil
Production: 256,186 tonnes
Not only that Brazilians produce a lot of cocoa beans each year, but they also very much enjoy it, since they are known as a chocolate loving nation. Did you know that “75% of the population consume chocolate, and 35% would choose chocolate over any other food or drink”? Oh, well, I understand them completely.
But, back in 2011, thing weren’t all that great for Brazil, as this country was facing issues of witches’ broom fungus attacking the cocoa trees, and the production was on a decline. Fortunately, it seems they have dealt with the problem and are now “the only cocoa-producing country in the continental Americas to remain untouched by the fungal disease” that is currently spreading. We can only hope, that this fungal disease won’t leave many consequences and that the problem will be resolved in time.
5. Cameroon
Production: 275,000 tonnes
Even though Cameroon is putting the efforts to boost their cocoa production for years, they have been dealing with many issues, with ageing trees being the one of the most problematic. They also have a problem with the farmers, since most of the modern young people there don’t want to do agricultural work, but some fancy office job. Nevertheless, they are still staying at the top, being at the 5th spot on this list of countries that produce the most cocoa beans in the world. Since the demand for cocoa is constantly on a rise, Cameroon has a good reason to seek for the help in order to save its cocoa production.
4. Nigeria
Production: 367,000 tonnes
It seems that the further we go with the list, and reach the biggest cocoa-producing countries, the more issues we find. Even though Nigeria is the 4 largest cocoa producing country, and the third largest cocoa exporter in the world, it is also facing some agricultural problems. Their main problem, when it comes to cocoa production is the black pod disease, that usually comes after the heavy rains that are common in Nigeria in July.
3. Indonesia
Production: 775,500 tonnes
The island of Sulawesi is the main producing region in Indonesia that is responsible for the 75% of its total cocoa production. What is interesting is that around 90% of its cocoa-production is actually produced by smallholders. This is not that good because, in the lack of finances, those smallholder farmers can’t deal with the usual agricultural problems like pests, diseases and ageing trees to name a few, and hence they easily switch to other industries such as the palm oil production.
2. Ghana
Production: 835,446 tonnes
There is a saying “Cocoa is Ghana, Ghana is cocoa” that perfectly depicts how valuable cocoa production is for Ghana. But, unfortunately, the economy of Ghana has not been stable in the last couple of years, and the value of the cocoa beans has been dropping, which has made some of the “Ghana’s cocoa farmers turn to smuggling“.
1. Ivory Coast
Production: 1,448,992 tonnes
And, finally, we have come to the country that produces the most cocoa beans in the world. As you can see from the numbers, no other country is near to the Ivory Coast when it comes to cocoa production. What is interesting is that even though Ivory Coast is the biggest producer and exporter of cocoa beans in the world for years, most of its residents didn’t have the privilege to even try our favorite cocoa product – chocolate. Fortunately, this has changed when the first chocolate factory in Ivory Coast was opened. From the video below, you can learn more about the cocoa production in Ivory Coast, and what is more interesting you can see the Ivorian cocoa farmers tasting chocolate for the first time.
