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Chocolate is a favorite for kids and adults alike. Chocolate bars, chocolate fudge, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk, chocolate cereal, hot chocolate, chocolate sauce... There is something special about this substance -- so special that the average person in the United States eats 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of chocolate every year!

Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from? In this article, we'll enter the amazing world of chocolate so you can understand exactly what you're eating!

The Cocoa Bean
Chocolate starts with a tree called the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao). This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in places such as South America, Africa and Indonesia.

chocolate seedlings
Photo courtesy Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate
This cacao tree seedling grows into the tree that will yield the cocoa beans. See more pictures of candy.

The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of a small pineapple. Inside the fruit are the tree's seeds, also known as cocoa beans.

ripe cacao tree fruit
Photo courtesy Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate
The ripe fruit of the cacao tree is about the size of a small pineapple.

cacao tree seeds
Photo courtesy Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate
Inside the ripe pods are the cacao tree's seeds: the cocoa beans.

The beans are fermented for about a week, dried in the sun and then shipped to the chocolate maker. In the next sections, we'll look at how the chocolate maker turns these raw beans into luscious chocolate.­

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