Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about chocolate..and then some!

We’ve fought wars over it, it’s inspired epic love poems, and now it’s the one of the world’s most traded commodities.  But we love chocolate for a different, simple reason – it tastes so darn good!  So let’s take a look at everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the creamy brown sweet treat.  

1. Chocolate originate from the seed of the Theobroma cacao tree, a small (15–26 ft.) tall) evergreen tree native to the tropics of the Americas. 

2. Theobroma is the scientific name that means "food of the deities.”

3. Cacao, the common name for the seeds, has been around for millions of years and cultivated for at least 3,000 years in Mexico, Central America, and South America, with earliest documented use in 1100 BC. 

4. In Mayan civilization, cacao beans were used as currency.  100 beans bought you a slave, 10 beans the services of a lady of the evening and a turkey cost 20 beans.  Of course, counterfeiting cacao beans with painted clay became its own thriving industry. 

5. In some areas of Latin America, the cocao beans were still used as currency as late as the 1800’s. 

6. Every cocoa tree produces enough cocoa for about 400-800 bars of chocolate each year.

7. The cacao bean contains about 300 different flavors and 400 separate aromas.

8. The process to make chocolate is somewhat complex:  The beans are fermented and then dried, cleaned, roasted and the shell is removed.  At that point they’re called cacao nibs.

9. The nibs are then ground into cocoa mass, which is the chocolate we know in its rough, base form, liquid called chocolate liquor.  

10. The liquor is then molded, processed, and ingredients added to make it one of two forms:  cocoa solids or cocoa butter.

11. From there, the use of chocolate depends on the proportion of coca solids to butter.  Unsweetened baking chocolate, sweet chocolate, which also contains fat and sugar, milk chocolate which also contains condensed milk or milk powder, and then white chocolate with has all of that except no cocoa solids.

12. Raw chocolate is dark and contains a minimum of 75% cacao. Processing chocolate depletes some vitamins and minerals so raw cacao is a more nutritious form of chocolate.

13. Cocoa solids contain caffeine and alkaloids and caffeine, which have physiological effects on the body and are linked to serotonin levels in the brain.  Even the smell of chocolate increases theta brain waves, which triggers relaxation.

14. However, theobromine, one of those alkaloids, is toxic to some animals, which is why dogs and cats can’t eat chocolate.

15. Chocolate is linked to health benefits when eaten in moderation.  Dark chocolate, especially, contains antioxidants that help the cardiovascular system and reduce blood pressure.

16. Dark chocolate widens arteries and promotes healthy blood flow that can prevent the buildup of plaque that can block arteries. Studies show that eating dark chocolate every day reduces the risk of heart disease by one third.

17. Research shows it increases blood flow to the brain, boosting memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving.

18. Although dark chocolate is beneficial to health, milk chocolate, white chocolate, and other varieties are not.  If you want the good stuff, buy darker and make sure cacao or chocolate liquor are the first ingredients listed, not sugar.

19. There are some drawbacks to too much of the over-sweetened, processed chocolate, however.  Since it contains high amounts of caffeine and sugar, it’s been blamed as a contributing factor in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children.

20. Though many people feel like they’re addicted to chocolate, that kind of commercial chocolate, especially in the US, has so much sugar and such little pure cacao solids that it’s probably the sugar they’re getting hooked on.

21. But more good news is that there’s been no link found between eating chocolate and causing acne, as rumored.

22. Probably because of the natural serotonin triggers, people who feel depressed eat 55% more chocolate than their non-depressed peers.   

23. Chocolate milk also makes one of the best after-workout protein drinks, as long as it’s the darker variety. 

24. Chocolate is the only food that melts around 93 degrees Fahrenheit  (just below body temperature) because the nature of cocao butter, which is why it melts in your mouth.

  

25. Cacao may have originated in Central and South America, but these days 70% of the world’s cacao is grown in Africa.  Cote d’Ivoire, the Ivory Coast, is the single largest grower, producing 40% of the world’s supply.

26. Ghana is next at 21% and then Indonesia with 14% of the world’s chocolate supply.  

27. Almost all cacao trees grow within 20 degrees latitude of the equator and 75% grow within 8 degrees of it. 

28. About 50 million people around the world depend on cocoa as a source of livelihood according to the World Cocoa Foundation,

29. Unfortunately, cocoa growing practices and harvesting farms have been linked to unsafe working conditions, unfair wages, and child labor trafficking.  

30. In 2010 alone, 1.8 million children ages 5 to 17 were forced laborers in the Ivory Coast and Ghana.  40% of them were not enrolled in school and only 5% of them were compensated at all for their work.

31. Europeans were the first to sweeten and enrich chocolate by adding refined sugar and milk as early as the 16th century.

32. Briton’s John Cadbury invented an emulsification process in 1842 that turned it into solid chocolate, creating the first chocolate bar and launching the Cadbury Chocolate Company.  

33. Chocolate is a HUGE industry.  The global market is expected to grow from its current level of $83.2 billion a year in revenues to $98.3 billion by 2016.

34. Worldwide, over 3.8 million tons of cacao beans are produced every year!

35. Americans eat about 1.3 billion pounds of chocolate every year.

36. Just in the U.S., manufacturers use 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make milk chocolate.

37. Hershey Kisses were first made in 1907 but in the shape of a square, until a new machine in 1921 formed their current shape.  There are 80 million chocolate Kisses made every day!

38. Speaking of Hershey’s, they’re the largest and oldest chocolate company in the U.S., producing over one billion pounds of chocolate products annually.

39. A Hershey's bar left from Admiral Richard Byrd’s expedition to the South Pole was dug up after 60 years and was edible, since it had been frozen all those years.   

40. World War II rations included chocolate bars because they provided a lot of calories and energy but were small and easy to store. 

41. Incredibly, during that same war the Germans designed a tiny steel bomb that was covered in chocolate that would explode 7 seconds after a piece was broken or bitten off.   

42. Chocolate is HUGE during the holidays in the U.S., with 48 million pounds sold for Valentine’s Day and 71 million pounds for Easter.

43. But Halloween takes the (chocolate) cake, with 91 million pounds purchased and consumed for the frightful holiday!

44. Over 50% of Americans prefer chocolate to any other flavor.

45. In the U.S. we average 12 pounds of chocolate consumed per person each year, but out sweet tooth doesn’t even compare to how much they love the brown gold abroad, good for 11th most in the world.  

46. In Switzerland, each person averages 22 pounds of chocolate eaten per year.  Australia and Ireland are next and 20 and 19 pounds each, respectively.   

47. Belgium (where Godiva originated) has more than 2,000 chocolate shops and produces 172,000 tons of chocolate per year. 

48. By the way, German chocolate cake was not first made in Germany but named after its American inventor, Sam German.  

49. The largest box of chocolate in the world was made in 2002 by Marshall Field’s in Chicago.  It contained 90,090 Frango choco mints and weighed 3,326 lbs.!

50. The most expensive chocolate confection in the world was created by a Danish chef and luxury chocolatier named Fritz Knipschildt whose store is located in Connecticut.  His chocolate truffle, named La Madeline, goes for $250 each!

51. Do you need another reason to go buy some chocolate?  According to a study, women who eat chocolate regularly have a better sex life and higher levels of desire, arousal, and satisfaction during sex.

Getting to the heart of Valentine’s Day.

Ahhh February 14^th, the day to express love to your sweetie, better-half, honey, shmoopy, snookums, pumpkin, sugar muffin, or boo boo,.  We'll buy gifts, pop champagne, and plan romantic dinners with reckless abandon but how many of us know the real story of Valentine’s Day, and the magnitude of the commercial side of the holiday? 

The origins of the holiday are shrouded in rumor and mystery, at times both attributed to ancient Christian and Roman traditions.  In fact, the Catholic Church has at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were doomed to become martyrs. 

One story attributes the holiday’s namesake to a priest named Valentine in 3^rd century Rome.  The Roman Emperor, Claudius II, reasoned that single men with no attachments made better soldiers so he outlawed marriage for all young men.  Valentine disagreed with the edict out of sentiment for young love so he kept performing marriages secretly.  But when he was discovered, Claudius had him killed.    

Another version tells of a Valentine put to death for helping persecuted Christians escape Roman prisons, where they beaten horribly and tortured.  Once he was apprehended, Valentine was put in prison, himself, where he fell in love with a girl who was the jailor’s daughter and she visited him there.  Before his execution, he sent her a love letter signed, “From your Valentine,” coining the expression we still use today.  With this reputation for unrequited romance, Valentine became one of the most popular saints in England and France during the Middle Ages, where they also thought it was the first day birds mated.  But most likely, February 14^th was probably the day Valentine was either buried or killed around 270 A.D.

A third tale of Valentine’s Day is even darker, as some believe that the Christian church appointed a day for St. Valentine’s feast in the middle of February to dissuade people from instead celebrating the pagan holiday of Lupercalia, a fertility festival on February 15^th.   It was a dedication to Faunus, Roman god of agriculture and Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 

The order of Luperci, a group of Roman priests, met at the sacred cave where Romulus and Remus were raised as infants by a Lupa, or she-wolf.  During this pagan celebration a goat was sacrificed for fertility and a dog for purification.  The goat’s hide was cut into strips and dipped into the sacrificial blood and the priests walked around the streets, anointing women and the agricultural fields with blood, which was believed to ensure fertility and bounty for both in the coming year.   After that all of the women in the city would place their names in a big urn and any unmarried men of age would reach in chose a women, who he’d be paired with for the upcoming year, hopefully culminating in marriage.  (Honestly, so far it just sounds like your average Mötley Crüe concert.)

As the religion of Christianity spread around the lands, Lupercalia was outlawed as a pagan holiday by the end of the 5^th century when Pope Gelasius also declared February 14^th St. Valentine’s Day, instead.   It wasn’t until many centuries later that the holiday became a day dedicated to love.  Around 1400, written Valentine’s began to appear and the oldest existing evidence is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415.  In this country Valentine’s Day cards and gifts took place as early as 1700 but it was later that Esther A. Howland, called the “Mother of the Valentine” brought it mainstream and established many of our traditions as she adorned cards and handmade romantic gifts with lace, ribbons, pictures and plenty of red.

Valentine’s Day is now celebrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. 

Now that we know some of the sordid history, let’s look at the how we celebrate the day of love in modern times, and the titanic commercial implications.

We spend about $20 billion dollars each Valentine’s Day    

According to Shopzilla, 75% of gift givers just “wing it” when it comes to Valentine’s Day gifts.

The average person spends $126.03, while the average woman plans to spend $85.76 and the average man $168.74 this Vanetines Day.

36% of women will purchase flowers for their spouse.

50% of women will give a gift of chocolate to a guy.

Spouses plan on spending $74.12 each this Valentine's Day.

71% of men will purchase flowers for their spouse. (You other 29% are in TROUBLE!)

Each consumer plans to spend $25.25 on children, parents or other family members, $6.92 on friends, and $4.52 on pets.

Yes, pets!  Interestingly enough, we’ll spend more than $722 million on furry friends every February 14^th!  That takes 'Crazy Cat Lady' to a whole new level! 

To research and purchase gifts – 40% will use their smartphone, 53.8% will use their tablet.

Who do we buy Valentine's Day gifts for?

Romantic partners 56%

Family 20%

Friends 7%

Teachers 5%

Coworkers 4%

Pets 4%

Where will people buy their V-day gifts?  

37% go to a discount store, 33.6% department store, 20.2% specialty store, 19.3% online retailer, 17.8% to a floral shop, and 10.6% to a jewelry store.

For the fresh flower industry, 40% of their holiday dollar volume occurs on Feb. 14, up to $1.8 billion.

There will be 36 million heart shaped chocolate boxes sold for $1.5 billion.

18.9% of people plan on buying jewelry at $4.1 billion.

35.6% go out to a romantic dinner that night and spend a total of $9.6 billion.

Greeting cards count on that day to sell 150 million products for $1.1 billion in sales.

$1.2 billion is spent on clothing/lingerie.

Valentine's Day is the most popular day of the year for marriage proposals.  

So don’t wait for the last minute to buy that gift for your spouse or loved ones this Valentine's Day and remember: it’s the thought that counts – not how much you spend...but you better buy a card, flowers, chocolate, and some jewelry just in case!