About two thirds of the cocoa in the world comes from West Africa, and half of that is produced in the Ivory Coast. As with many food producers, cocoa farmers' prices are controlled by the world market. Prices can fluctuate widely from for $945 to $5,672 or more, a ton in short order.

Cocoa farmers, unlike those who invest in trading cocoa, can't abandon their trees or reduce production as easily as investors can dump their stocks. It has been reported that 90 cocoa butter; thereby, allowing it to form a thinner coating that is often used to chocolate coat fruits or chocolate fountains.

Chocolatiers use the finished couverture chocolate to make chocolate candy bars, truffles and other desert items. The first chocolate was drunk instead of eaten and was served only to the highest nobles and clergy of the Mesoamerican age. Both the Aztecs and Mayans created sweet and bitter drinks by mixing the ground powder with water.

Chocolate liquor (smooth liquid chocolate) is blended in different quantities with cocoa butter to make different types of chocolate. The blends of ingredients showing the highest chocolate quantity first are:

1. Plain dark chocolate: Sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and sometimes vanilla

2. Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk or powdered milk and vanilla

3. White chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, milk or powdered milk and vanilla

Notice that only white chocolate has no cocoa liquor in it. The only ingredient that is actually from the cacao bean in white chocolate is the fat or cocoa butter which has a very distinct flavor.

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