The Swiss eat more chocolate per person than any other nation in the world.
Belgium is the third biggest producer of chocolate in the world.
Just like Willy Wonka, many Belgian chocolate makers keep their recipes secret.
Cocoa was discovered by the South American Indians over 3,000 years ago.
The word ‘chocolate’ comes from chocolatl, the Aztec name for their chocolate drink.
The scientific name for cocoa means ‘food of the gods’.
Cocoa beans were considered so valuable, the Aztecs used them as money – ten beans would buy a rabbit!
Originally, chocolate was used just as a drink. The Spaniards took cocoa to Europe from Mexico in the sixteenth century. They kept the recipe for drinking-chocolate secret for nearly 100 years!
In 1606, an Italian took the recipe to Italy, and chocolate drinking became popular throughout Europe.
There was a royal chocolate maker at the court of Louis XIV.
At first, chocolate was only for the rich. They drank it in ‘chocolate houses’, which were like smart cafes.
The first chocolate factory in America was set up in 1765.
Cocoa powder is made from dried beans that are roasted and ground.
It takes a year’s crop of cocoa beans from one tree to make just one tin of cocoa!
Cocoa pods are as big as rugby balls. They contain about thirty beans.
Factories can produce over five million bars of chocolate a day.