Chocolate and the Caribbean

The Caribbean is a huge source of inspiration for my work. Since creating my graduate Windrush Collection in 2018, I’ve become fascinated with learning the culture and history of the islands. I am aiming to visit as many islands as possible to see and experience the nature, beauty, history and culture first-hand. I’ve only ticked off one so far, but I’m hoping to have the opportunities tick off a lot more in the future!

Here on the blog, I share some of the culture, history and information that I am learning about the Caribbean with you. This time, I’m covering everything that I’ve uncovered so far about chocolate & the Caribbean!

The Caribbean’s history is closely linked to the beans from the cocoa tree. Many of the islands were colonised by European nations in the 17th & 18th centuries. Using enslaved African labour, they introduced a plantation economy to the region, mainly based on sugar, but also rum, cotton, coffee and cocoa.

Caribbean islands have a climate ideal for cocoa trees. Hot, rainy and tropical with lush rainforests. Cocoa trees grow best in these locations which are closer to the equator. The Caribbean islands grow the most rare and finest varieties of cocoa in the world, the Criollo and Trinitario. Islands Grenada, St Lucia, Trinidad and Dominica exclusively produce these fine varieties of cocoa. 

We have The Maya of Mesoamerica (Mesoamerica is literally translated to 'middle America', the area extending from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua) to thank for our chocolate. They believed the cacao bean was divine, and used them for many rituals. Cacao beans were deemed so valuable that they were also used as a currency. The Mayans consumed cacao beans in a bitter, frothy drink. Drying and grinding the beans to mix with water, and sometimes chilli.

On a trip to the Americas in 1519, to establish more Spanish colonies, Hernán Cortés encountered the Mayan cacao drink and beans and brought them back to Spain. They became a hit in Europe. The Spanish first used the cacao drink as a medicine. Due to its bitter taste, people started to add sweeteners and flavours such as sugar, vanilla and honey which made the drink even more delicious.

In the 1600s, this cacao drink became a fashionable, aristocratic staple. However, cacao was difficult to produce in large quantities, so Europeans used enslaved African labour on plantations to produce it on Caribbean islands and on islands off the coast of West Africa.

The cocoa industry in the Caribbean region has been experiencing a resurgence in more recent times. There has been an increase in the number of cocoa entrepreneurs in the Caribbean who are starting artisanal ‘bean to bar’ chocolate brands. The advantage that these brands have is they have full control over their production, and they do not need to import any of the raw materials needed to produce fine chocolate. They sell their chocolate locally and regionally at farmers markets, hotels, gift shops, cafes and tourist experiences. There is plenty of scope for them to be able to export to larger markets in North America, Europe and Asia as artisanal chocolate is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the global chocolate market. This began to happen for brands like the Trinidad & Tobago Fine Cocoa Company as they listed Harrods as one of their stockists in 2019.