The scientific name for the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao. Translated loosely, this means "Food of the Gods". Cacao trees only produce fruit when they are grown around the equator - between 20 degrees south and 20 degrees north of the equator. Actually, most cacao beans are grown between 10 degrees south and 10 degrees north of the equator.

About 70% of the world's chocolate comes from West Africa - Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. An additional 10% comes from South America - Brazil and Ecuador. The remaining 20% comes from Oceania and Asia - Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia.

Three different types of cacao beans make up chocolate. The top quality is called Criollo and is found primarily in Venezuela. Forastero beans are the most abundant, comprising 95% of the cacao beans grown. Trinitario is a hybrid of the other two types. It is higher quality that Forastero, but more resistant to disease than Criollo.

Many people are confused about the terms cacao and cocoa. Cacao is the fatty bean from which cocoa butter and cocoa powder are made. Cacao powder would refer to the raw, unsweetened powder made from the bean.

Cocoa powder is made by crushing the cacao nibs, which are the smaller edible flesh inside the large cacao bean. The fat is then removed from the paste and the resulting solids are ground into cocoa powder. This powder may still have small amounts of cocoa butter to make it taste better.

Some people say that white chocolate is not chocolate at all. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar (or other sweetener) and milk solids. It does not contain cocoa solids. In 2002 the USDA determined that white chocolate is considered to be chocolate when it contains at least 20% cocoa butter. Before 2002 white chocolate was not considered to be chocolate because it didn’t contain cocoa solids.

Confectioner's coating, summer coating and Almond bark are the names of other types of chocolate-like substances that are used for coating goodies. These are made with cheaper ingredients, such as solid or hydrogenated vegetable or animal fats, which are not made from cocoa. These types of fats melt at higher temperatures so they will withstand warmer conditions better.

The amount of cocoa solids in chocolate determines the cafffeine level, with darker chocolate having higher amounts of caffeine than lighter chocolates. White chocolate only contains trace amounts, milk chocolate has less than 5 milligrams (mg) per ounce and unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate has between 5 and 10 mg/oz. An average cup of coffee, which has between 100 and 150 mg/cup has about 10 to fifteen times as much caffeine as the darkest chocolate.