CHOCOLATE BAR : PRODUCTION PROCESS

CHOCOLATE BAR : PRODUCTION PROCESS

1. NATURAL RESOURCES/EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

   • AGRICULTURE
     • The process of growing and harvesting the raw materials.
       • Chocolate production begins with harvesting cocoa in a forest. Cocoa comes from tropical evergreen Cocoa trees which grown in wet lowland tropics of Central/South America, West Africa. Southeast Asia. It is harvested manually.
         • 1. Seed pods of cocoa will be collected. They will then be filtered through to determine which ones to keep. They will be sorted out into piles, preparing them for fermentation.
           • 2. They’re placed in large, heated trays or covered with large banana leaves. Depending on the climate, they might just be heated by the sun. Workers stir up the beans once in a while so all are equally fermented. This is when the beans turn brown - 5 to 8 days.
             • 3. Drying the cocoa seeds. Now, the farmers will spread out the fermented seeds onto trays, and leave them out in the sun for about a week. Afterwards, they are sent out to manufacturers, for further work.
   • RAW MATERIALS
     • COCOA BEANS
       • Evaluated for bean size, mold, infestation, filth and degree of fermentation
         • Collected from regions within 20 degrees north or south of the equator
           • Cut from the trees with machetes or knives mounted on poles
             • Beans are manually removed and are left to be heated in the sun for several days
               • Graded and bagged in sacks weighing from 130 to 200 pounds
     • SUGAR
       • Used in the manufacturing of milk and dark chocolate
         • Used to add flavour
     • MILK PRODUCTS
       • Vary among suppliers - some include whole milk, nonfat dry milk, anhydrous milk fat, and milk crumb
         • blended with cocoa mass to form chocolate liquor, which is then evaporated to make chocolate crumb
     • WRAPPING/PACKAGING MATERIALS
       • e.g. paper, foil and card
     • LABOUR
       • CAPITAL
         • The capital goods used during the chocolate bar production process.
           • Machines/Equipment used during manufacturing- conveyor belt, sweltering tunnel, winnowing machine, nib-grinding machine, rectangular molds, mixing machines, conchers, conveyor belt moods, cold tunnels
             • Space required - farms, factories, offices,trucks etc.
               • Packaging and packaging machines- used to wrap chocolate in paper wrappers.
         • INFORMATION
           • NEW TECHNOLOGY
             • Whether to use renewable sources or minimize parts of their production process
             • CUSTOMERS
               • Which type of chocolate they prefer
               • COMPETITION
                 • Producing high quality chocolate while protecting the environment and meeting global standards
           • MANAGEMENT
             • ALLOCATING HUMAN RESOURCES
               • Hire factory workers Arrange and organize factory workers (includes appointing managers, supervisors and managing quality control)
               • ALLOCATION OF MONETARY RESOURCES
                 • Purchase additive ingredients ,Purchase cocoa beans , Transportation costs ,Packaging costs ,Insurance costs ,Pay factory workers
                 • QUALITY CONTROL
                   • Certain amounts from each batch of chocolate are tested to ensure product meets the 1944 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, and more recent laws/regulations. Samples of raw ingredients are also tested for the freshness/flavour. Chocolates are usually placed on conveyor belts and are inspected. Chocolates with slight imperfections are removed.
       • HARVESTING COCOA BEANS
         • 1. Plucking pods - When pods turn orange and are about the size of a football, harvesters use machetes to gently detach the pods from the trees.
           • 2. Opening pods - After pods are collected, they are carried to a processing house. Pods are opened and cocoa beans are extracted from pod shells. Each pod contains 50-60 cocoa beans.
             • 3. Fermenting and drying seeds - The beans are placed in large shallow trays and are covered with banana leaves. The beans are then placed in the sun for five to eight days or until they turn brown.
       • MANUFACTURING CHOCOLATE
         • 1. Roasting -Beans are roasted on screens and heated revolving cylinders where the moisture in the beans goes from 7% to 1%. When they are roasted, they begin to develop a richer flavour.
           • 2. Winnowing - Outer shell of cocoa bean is removed and inner cocoa bean is broken into small pieces called “cocoa nibs”. The cocoa beans are placed through sieves and filters that separate pieces of the cocoa bean shell from the the nibs, and strain and sort the cocoa nibs by size.
             • 3. Grinding - Cocoa nibs are ground and heated into cocoa liquor (unsweetened chocolate) by revolving granite blocks. In this process cocoa butter, sugar and sometimes milk are added to the liquor.
               • 4. Refining - The liquor is further ground between metal drums. This process ensures that the cocoa liquor is smoother and flows easier.
                 • 5. Cooling - After additional ingredients (varies - company/flavour) are added to the cocoa liquor, mixture can be placed in olds and is cooled at a gradual rate to ensure that the cocoa butter doesn’t separate from the mixture.
   • FUEL/ENERGY
     • The sun
       • Might be used during the fermentation process, instead of heated trays.
         • Typically used in the drying process, where beans are laid out to dry.