Cocoa Bean Production
Most cocoa beans in the world are grown in the countries near the equator; between the tropic of Capricorn and the tropic of Cancer. The map below shows the cocoa bean growing region of the world.
Cocoa Bean Growing Region
Cocoa beans grow in this region because the countries there have the characteristics that cocoa trees need to grow. The growing of cocoa trees depends very highly on climate. Cocoa plants react well to fairly high temperatures, with a maximum of around 30-32 degrees Celsius on an annual average, and a minimum annual average of 18-21 degrees Celsius. Cocoa trees are highly sensitive to water shortage. Rainfall should be abundant and well distributed over the year in order for cocoa trees to grow. An annual average of between 1,500mm and 2,000mm of rainfall is preferred by the plant. For ideal development of cocoa trees a hot and humid atmosphere is crucial. In countries that produce cocoa beans the humidity is regularly high: with often as much as 100% during the day and falling to 70-80% during the night. These climate conditions allow good quality cocoa beans to be produced.
The map below gives a closer look at the cocoa growing countries of the world.
The map below gives a closer look at the cocoa growing countries of the world.
Cocoa Growing Countries
Below is a choropleth map that shows the production of cocoa beans by tons around the world.
Cocoa Production by Tons around the World
This map shows that Cote d'Ivorie and Ghana are the highest producing countries of cocoa beans in the world, these countries are producing around 1000 tons.
As can be seen by the pie chart below cocoa beans are produced in many different countries around the world. However, they are mainly produced in West Africa, Central and South America and Asia. The top eight largest producing countries of cocoa are Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil and Ecuador. The country that produces the highest amount of the world’s cocoa beans is Cote d’Ivoire: producing 36%. The country that is the second highest producer of cocoa beans is Ghana with a total of 24% and the third highest producer of cocoa beans is Indonesia with 10%.
Share of Countries in total Cocoa Beans production 2010/11
The flow chart above shows the manufacturing process of chocolate. The blue flow chart shows the procedure used for cocoa bean processing, while the brown flow chart shows the procedure used when making chocolate.
Flavour Cocoa and Consumer Cocoa
This choropleth map above shows mainly where the 'flavoured' cocoa and the 'consumer' cocoa of the world is sourced from.