The cacao trees mature at five years and begin to flower on the trunk. The flowers are pollinated by midges, a small fly.

Bad weather, failed government policies and a fast-spreading virus are reducing output from the world’s top cocoa-growing ...

Farmers face an uphill battle when it comes to meeting rising food demands while also dealing with more erratic weather ...

Tree crops – for example, apple, cherry, olives, nuts, coffee, and cacao – cover more than 183 million hectares worldwide, ...

Cocoa powder vs. cacao powder The plant used to make chocolate is called the cacao tree. It makes a fruit called cacao beans. Raw beans can be crushed into cacao powder. But if the beans are ...

It takes about five years before a cacao tree is mature enough to start producing beans, and the plants remain fragile in the first few years of their life, he says. All the while, consumers ...

Interview with Adam Maxwell, CEO and Founder of Voyage Foods, Inc., and Kelsey Tenney, founding team member and VP of R &D of Voyage.

Higher cocoa prices are said to be moving chocolate makers’ attentions to alternatives, including lab grown cocoa.

"Last year I had no yield. So no farmer can depend solely on cocoa - one has to plant other trees along with it." Despite the challenges, he's optimistic. "The future is bright, with huge demand." ...