Old roots

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THE cocoa tree’s botanical name, Theobroma cacao, translated from the Greek means “food of the gods” – an apt name for a product that has conquered the world in less than half a century, after the Spanish learnt of it from the Mayas and Aztecs in South America in the 16th century.

Explorer Hernando Cortez brought back the first cocoa and chocolate drink recipe to the Spanish royal court in 1528, and the tree began to appear in Spanish colonies some two decades after that. It was a bitter brew, though, until cane sugar began to be added along with newly discovered spices such as vanilla and cinnamon.

Print of an illustration reportedly dating back to the time when the Spanish met the Aztecs in South America and discovered chocolate.

The cacoa bean spread quickly, to France in the early 17th century, England a little later and the New World in the mid 18th century. It was first introduced to South-East Asia in the 17th century by the Spanish and, it is believed, a cacao tree was taken to Indonesia and Sabah in the early 18th century.

In Malaysia, the first cacao-planted area is believed to have been in Malacca in 1778. Subsequently, cacao planting began in a plotted area at what is now Serdang Agriculture Station and the Silam Agriculture Research Centre, Sabah.

The earliest commercialisation of cacao crops began in this country in 1853 when the Amelonado species was planted in about 400ha in Jerangau, Terengganu.

Cacao development was further undertaken at Serdang, Cheras, Kuala Lipis and Temerloh between 1936 and 1940. The crop began to be actively planted after World War II, arriving in Quoin Hill, Tawau, Sabah, in 1960, and steadily increasing in acreage.

According to visitorsguide.com.my, while the plantations have been slowing down over the years, the cacao processing sector, which began in the 1970s, has seen tremendous growth. Currrently, Malaysia is the fifth largest cacao processor in the world.