Cocoa and chocolate is consumed almost entirely in developed countries. The beans from which chocolate is made are grown in less developed countries in West Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

In the spirit of our meat guide, we at The New Food Economy are here to share insights that will help you better understand—and savor—the chocolate you spend money and calories on.

Ancient South Americans domesticated and consumed cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made, long before other people did, a new study finds.

Ageing and a low life expectancy are caused, at least partly, by oxidative stress. A team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Ivana Ivanovi-Burmazovi from the Chair of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), together with researchers from the USA, have discovered that zinc can activate an organic molecule, helping to protect against oxidative stress.

Right now, a teenager in a village some 16,000 kilometres away from Australia is making a decision that could turn an everyday foodstuff into an unaffordable luxury.

Chocolate and its varied forms (candy bars, cocoa, cakes, cookies, coating for other candies and fruits) are probably most people’s favorite confection. Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree.

Chocolate can certainly get one some brownie points, and no way is this truer than in Ivory Coastwhich in 2018 reported the largest agricultural trade balance in value terms in Africa, an amount of US$5.1 billion.

Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths annually, a statistic that remains constant despite increased awareness of the deadly disease.

Demand from Asia’s growing legions of chocoholics has outpaced the ability of local farmers to supply cocoa beans, prompting a surge of shipments into the region from Africa and South America.

 The last piece of chocolate you ate likely had its roots in West Africa, where two-thirds of cocoa beans are produced.

You can count on the fact that chocolate will, as always, be a mainstay of Valentine’s Day.

Chocolate in all its forms is something that I, along with many others like to indulge in on an almost daily basis.

Ghana and Ivory Coast have hit out at several big chocolate companies and traders including Mars, Hershey and Olam, accusing them of trying to circumvent a premium on cocoa meant to help fight farmer poverty in west Africa.

For Larbi Siaw, a cocoa farmer in Ghana’s western north region, this is one of the busiest times of year. Like millions of smallholders across west Africa, he and his family are chopping down ripe yellow pods, scooping out white pulpy beans and leaving them to dry on reed mats in the heat. 

Our diets can have a big environmental impact.

Nobody is suffering more from a global chocolate standoff than the Côte d'Ivoire cocoa farmer.

Chocolate sales have boomed in recent months. As the cost-of-living crisis bites, consumers are increasingly reaching for chocolate as a simple and affordable pleasure.

Most people would look at the paradisiacal coast of Bahia in northeastern Brazil and think of beachy holidays and the place where F1 star driver Lewis Hamilton chose to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2023.

 Shoppers may get a bitter surprise in their Easter baskets this year. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever as changing climate patterns eat into global cocoa supplies and the earnings of farmers in West Africa.

A rapidly spreading virus threatens the health of the cacao tree and the dried seeds from which chocolate is made, jeopardizing the global supply of the world's most popular treat.