The diagram illustrates how cacao beans are processed to produce liquid chocolate.
Overall, this linear process consists of ten steps, the first half of which being labor-intensive, whereas the second half mechanical.
To begin with, cacao trees grow mainly in the southern part of the globe, such as in S. America, Africa and Indonesia. Once they are ripe, the red cacao pods are harvested and cracked open using a blade or a similar tool. Afterwards, the fermentation process takes place, in which white cocoa beans, taken out of the pods, are spread on leaves to be dried under the sun until they darken in color. The fermented cocoa beans are then manually packed into large bags, which are loaded onto trucks that deliver the contents to the factory.
Having been delivered to the factory setting, the mechanical process starts: the beans are roasted in an oven under 350 degrees Celsius. Subsequently, the roasted beans are put into a circular crusher, which also removes the unwanted outer shells. Finally, a couple of rollers press the inner parts and produces ready-to-use liquid chocolate.