CHOCOLATE FROM THE BEAN TO THE BAR

[Music] in any season of beer it's exhilarating to be alive [Music] life is composed of beautiful elements the sun a star by which to chart our days the soil a womb to nurture every tiny seed water to quench the thirst of all living things and air where birds and dreams take wing and people born to dwell beside these sun-lit shores where the oceans of air and water pound chocolate is a gift from the sun and the soil chocolate is a gift from water and air chocolate is a gift from life itself in partnership with man [Music] so come to where the sun shines brightest fly with us on a journey beyond the sunset to the very source of our story deep in the tropics columbus challenging the oceans again on his fourth voyage to the new world encountered the mysterious cocoa beans that add such flavor to our lives today cocoa beans are commercially grown in the hot and rainy realms that hover near the equator in africa south america and the caribbean here where sweet tropical scents drift on every breeze taller eratrina trees shade the fragile cocoa bearing ones tiny five petal blossoms sprout from the trunk or sturdy branches weaker branches couldn't bear the heavy cocoa pods that will soon replace the blossoms evergreen the trees are adorned with brightly colored ornaments like tropical christmas trees theobroma cacao they call it food of the [Music] gods with a steady eye and a long-handled reach harvesters select the ripened pods and sever their woody stems ripe pods are to be found on the trees during virtually any month the pulp that surrounds the seeds or beans inside the pod has the tangy taste of a mango or other tropical fruit harvesters leave the forest floor littered with the fruit of their labor others collect the pods [Music] hernando cortez first sipped the essence of these golden pods in the court of the aztec emperor montezuma today so the world may enjoy the emperor's pleasure pot openers patiently split the woody shells and extract the seeds that we call cocoa beans [Music] each pod contains from 20 to 50 beans it will require 400 such beans to create a single pound of chocolate they were so precious in history they were used as money it's told that 10 beans could buy a rabbit 100 beans a wife the beans are now conveyed to fermenting sheds where the fleshy pulp that surrounds the beans ferments fermentation generates sufficient temperature to activate existing enzymes and form the substance we recognize as chocolate [Music] flat built up drying platforms dot the countryside in the cocoa producing lands roofs that shed tropical downpours slide back on tracks to let the beans bathe in sunshine [Music] during drying the beans lose most of their moisture and more than half of their weight to remove the last lingering traces of pulp workers pile the cocoa beans and then employing the best machine that may be available to them their own bodies and energies they proceed to polish the bean [Applause] the polished skin of the bean which later will be removed in processing can now survive the long journey that lies ahead [Music] chocolate is the world's favorite flavor ships steam from around the globe to call at these tropical harbors and take on the precious cargo the cocoa beans are a valuable source of international exchange for the tropical nations that produce them busy cocoa exchanges in new york london hamburg and amsterdam have brought buyers and sellers together to transact for the beans [Music] it's a long long journey from the beam to the bar but now the journey has begun [Music] steel wheels are tracking on course now for the midwest carrying the beans on the next leg of their long trip our destination today is robinson in southeastern illinois location of one of the world's most modern chocolate manufacturing facilities [Music] a switch engine eases the beans down the siding and deposits them on the threshold of their new home [Music] cocoa beans are first kept in isolated storage until careful quality control checks are made by laboratory personnel random samplings of beans are split and carefully analyzed to the trained eye color is a key to the level of fermentation and the potential for flavor only with the formal approval of the laboratory are the beans accepted and entered into storage and route there the beans proceed through a series of screening and cleaning operations that remove any extraneous material [Music] then they're air blown to giant storage silos where they await blending and roasting [Music] when called upon 2200 pounds of beans each hour pass over steam heated coils in the roaster further dried and flavor enhanced by roasting the beans brittle shells are broken by a cracking device and the precious nibs or heart of the beans are separated from the chap here in the winterwork cocoa nibs contain approximately one half cocoa butter and one-half cocoa solids the whirling blade and heat of a milling machine grind and melt the nibs to a buttery liquid called chocolate liquor [Music] chocolate liquor will join whole milk powder additional cocoa butter and sugar on the road to becoming real milk chocolate [Music] chocolate is naturally delicious to its natural goodness we add the sweet kiss of sugar as another gift to the tropics sugar is in good company in the story of chocolate [Music] sugar a valuable source of carbohydrate energy arrives at the chocolate plant in railroad hopper cars each car delivers 190 000 pounds of sugar which is air blown to storage silos to await use [Music] stainless steel tank trucks daily call at dairy farms throughout the heartland of america milk lends not only its name but some important nutrients to milk chocolate protein calcium iron and vitamin a chocolate manufacturers in the united states use more than three and a half million pounds of whole milk each day [Music] it seems that all paths in a chocolate plant lead to the lab another step that a quality conscious food manufacturer regularly takes to ensure wholesomeness and uniformity is meticulous microbiological examination of milk and the other ingredients destined to become a chocolate bar in a humidity controlled environment great longitudinal mixers automatically batch the chocolate liquor whole milk powder cocoa butter and sugar and blend them to a paste-like consistency [Music] a sampling of this aromatic fudge is analyzed for moisture content even one half of one percent moisture adversely affects the flowing characteristics of chocolate at every stage from tropical drying through commercial roasting the goal has been to reduce moisture to the lowest possible level [Music] the next phase of the highly automated carefully monitored progression to the completed product is the elevation of the mixer paste to a conveyor where plows diverted into giant refiner in this most important of steps the particle size of the various ingredients is reduced as the paste is compressed through banks of whirling rollers with successively smaller tolerances this is a critical phase that ensures a smoother consistency and texture on down the line upon leaving the refiners the milk chocolate ingredients have taken a new form a light dry powder [Music] rows of gleaming conscience now embrace the chocolate revolving arms impart energy to the product by a frictional heat all residual traces of bitterness dissipate during the conching process additional cocoa butter is added by the operator and with heat and time the chocolate liquefies to a velvety mass creamy and smooth it's now suitable to the needs of the manufacturer and the tastes of the public [Music] the viscosity or flow ability of chocolate is a vital consideration to the manufacturer in proceeding to an assortment of finished products candy bar coding ice cream bar coding or chocolate for molded bars laboratory personnel utilizing sophisticated analyzing equipment monitor the exact viscosity of the chocolate at every stage the manufacturer employs other delicious ingredients to lend both variety and nutrients to one of our favorite foods soybeans in unending rows give us precious natural oil bulk shipments of such ingredients arrive at the factory each day the welcoming committee is from the lab the laboratory has checked each incoming ingredient ushered them all through every phase of production and will analyze the finished product before it leaves for market [Music] these are the quality control people and they're certainly well named in another sunny corner of the world lie the almond groves of california carried originally to california by missionaries almond trees brought shade and sustenance to mission grounds from san juan capistrano to san francisco the almond grower keeps a daily watch on his maturing crop as the almond husks crack open in the month's preceding harvest today they supply the confectionary industry with one of the tastiest compliments a candy bar can have you know nuts add more than crunch to candy bars they're brimming with protein iron and calcium let's cook up some crunchy english toffee as a companion for the chocolate from storage they automatically draw almonds sugar and soybean oil the basic ingredients of english toffee automated pre-mixers stand at the ready once these ingredients are pre-mixed and pre-heated they're available to cooks in the candy kitchen at the push of a button the toffee ingredients are carefully metered into copper cooking kettles and set to cook to butchers and bakers add candy bar makers in the annals of those who bring good things to our lives over open fire the toffee cooks and thickens until its aroma and consistency proclaim it just right a lot of skill and judgment are added to every batch of toffee that issues from the kitchen [Music] the finished toffee is fed by gravity to moving conveyor belts below water chilled rollers smooth a layer of toffee into a continuously flowing stream like a paddle wheel scoring knives churn upstream through the river of talking still warm when scored the toffee flows on through cooling tunnels to emerge brittle enough for breaking into separate pieces mechanically separated they march on to a happy fate like a chocolate niagara the enrobing machine envelops the toffee with delicious milk chocolate a wire screen allows chocolate to coat the bottoms of the bars while a brisk blast of air imparts a distinctive wave to their tops [Music] richly dressed in chocolate by the enrober the finished bars pass in review [Music] factories are more than bricks and mortar factories are more than machinery and technology it takes dedicated motivated people at every level to make a plant come alive to make it successful and to keep it that way 500 people contribute to the success of this particular enterprise and in turn derive their living from it individually they contribute of their particular skills and abilities together they orchestrate a symphony of productivity [Music] one million chocolate bars per day can pass this way 25 million pounds of candy each year talk about a wrap-up and this one is accomplished at the phenomenal rate of 200 bars per minute but let's slow down that pace for just a moment to wash this ingenious wrapping machine at work [Music] automatic boxing units count and stack the wrapped bars and build the carton around them before sending them on their way [Music] chocolate in its molded form is yet another familiar member of the candy bar family a quarter of a million such bars pass down these lines each day [Music] not only is chocolate can be an item for personal enjoyment but attractively packaged in bars or in boxes its universal appeal and acceptance make it an easy item for schools clubs and organizations to sell in their fundraising campaigns [Music] to satisfy all sizes of tastes and appetites all sizes of chocolate bars are crafted here miniature double bite-sized bars hurtle down the line to wrapping machines that seal 500 little bars every minute one and three-quarter million bars a day [Music] these bars are then counted and bagged with machine precision [Music] while chocolate bars stream from the production lines in endless array sales and marketing personnel fan out across the country to serve existing markets and to search for new ones [Music] in response to their efforts a discerning consuming public generates the orders that flow across order desks back at the office these orders now fed into computers for efficient handling weld the final vital link in the circle of production income from these orders generates the necessary cash flow to pay salaries wages and profits money to maintain and care for existing facilities and capital to invest in new technology and production capacity this same cash flow also provides the finances to procure additional raw materials to continue production of the chocolate bars that are the key to the whole enterprise salaries wages and profits earned here will be spent in other areas of the marketplace to keep other production cycles humming that is the free enterprise system at work before we know it the chocolate bars are trucking on down the road broad ribbons of highway are drawn lines between manufacturers and consumers it's in the marketplace that the buying public exercises its role in the free enterprise system satisfying its own tastes and preferences and judgments as it selects the products it'll consume and enjoy in the course of life [Music] [Applause] we invest heavily of our energies in life but the investment always seems to come back with dividends [Music] to replenish our energies we gratefully partake of a diet that assures us of the protein fats carbohydrates vitamins and minerals essential to the maintenance of our good health chocolate bars very proudly take their place as one element in a balanced diet chocolate bar words almost as familiar to a boy as better up right here [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh we'll let you call that one chocolate is fun because chocolate is a part of our lives and life is fun it's a long way from the bean to the bar but every step of the journey has been well worth the taking if the end result can be as satisfying and refreshing as this chocolate it flavors our lives with happiness [Music] you