Modern production

 

Cacao in the modern-twentieth century has been a driving force of industrialization, with hundreds of thousands employed by what emerged as big industrial giants formed around the production of chocolate. Industrialization triggered a massive influx of migration to major city hubs known as urbanization. Cacao which was a drink used by mesoamericans with spiritual and cultural value was seen as a luxurious good because it took hours of human labor grinding and gritting the cacao beans to drink an addicting bitter beverage which held caloric richness that caught the eyes of the invaders. For centuries the Europeans have been experimenting with chocolate using the product for medicinal and consuming value. It wasn’t until the beginning of the industrial age when cacao held greater demand, its status as a nobility good in shambles as now it became a cheap good in which children can buy at the local market. Chocolate caught the eye of the world with the product still in high demand to this day. Yet,  somehow the status quo of cacao which held nobility status with the mesoamericans and later royal families of europe became accessible for the other classes. To identify when this change occurred, we will look at how modern technology changed the status symbol of cacao? First, with the invention of the cacao press,and  the significance of the quakers. 

The chocolate revolution began with the invention of the cacao press. This was invented by Coenraad Van Houten who was obsessed with finding a way to separate the fat from the cacao bean itself. Cacao for the longest time was not pleasing to most European tastes who considered the product bitter. For centuries there have been many attempts to assimilate and sweeten the product. Over time, chocolate became more readily accessible and available outside the nobility, the luxurious goods graded downwarded to a product used as a breakfast food for peasants. Still, there was no process that could extract the immense amount of fat in the cacao beans, which was still displeasing. Van Houten used the wonders of modern technology of an all-steel machine with a fluid-piston to tarnish what took the mesoamericans hours to turn the cacao beans into a liquid paste. “Van Houten’s cocoa-pressing machine used six thousand pounds of pressure to squeeze the grease from the carefully roasted beans” ( Carol off pg 47). The cacao fat was separated in another pan as a coagulated yellow color, with the other pan holding a soft cacao powder readily accessible for european housewives to pour into their morning coffee with a sweet aftertaste. Van Houten’s brown powder soon took over European markets with ease, putting the Netherlands as the leader of cacao powder production. This was highly valued by British quaker entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity in this new and now readily available market for prosperity. 

The Quakers have a history of persecution and discrimination as a result of their religious views refusing to align with the church of england and pledging away from the british crown. They also viewed alcohol as a product which should be banned. As a result, they were barred from opportunities such as owning land and attending universities. They left England for the colonies settling in areas such as Pennyslavia. Quakers were allowed to hold businesses and Quakers in the twentieth century were industrial entrepreneurs who saw the potential in chocolate. 

A quaker named Joseph Fry set up a medicinal chocolate-making company in the 1700s. After Van Houten’s inspiration for the cacao press separating the fat from the cacao bean. The Fry family took interest in the cacao fat that was left behind. They used the cacao butter, mixed it with sugar, flour and cacao solids to form a brand new product which could melt in the mouths of the consumer, this was the first modern chocolate bar. This product was affordable and can be mass-produced, dropping the sale value of cacao. By the 1840’s the Fry family became one of the world’s most popular producers of the chocolate bar which did not melt when sold from the self.  On the downside they received competition from other quaker entrepreneurs such as the Cadburys.  

In conclusion, the invention of the cacao press allowed for chocolate to eventually downgrade in status as a readily available product for mass consumption. We looked at how modern technology changed the status symbol of cacao. First, with the invention of the cacao press,and  the significance of the quakers.  Although, for centuries it served as a treat of luxury for the nobility, the bitter taste of the chocolate with its high percentage in fat never truly grasped the heart of the royals. With the use of modern technology, Van Houten’s invention opened the doors for opportunities for persecuted people like the Quakers and the eventual globalization of cacao. 

Bibliography:

Off, Carol. Bitter Chocolate. University of Queensland, 2016.