Seamus Blackley, a tech executive known best for inventing the Xbox game console, inspects his cacao trees. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) There are technological and biological wonders inside the ...

Archaeologists have shed light on the origins of chocolate by tracing the spread of the cacao tree. A new study published in Scientific Reports found that the cacao tree, which grows cocoa beans, ...

Cocoa farmers in Ghana are testing new ways of growing their crops as shifting weather patterns take a toll on yields. Among them is Samuel Davor, a cocoa farmer in Sefwi Wiawso, a village in a forest ...

You may think you know all there is about chocolate, but cacao beans are only part of the story. With a rich history, cacao ...

In Cameroon, the astonishing surge in the price of cocoa has Banyuy Elsie Kinyuy planning the next chapter of her life. In November, the 57-year-old high school tutor bought a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) ...

This search has led a team of researchers to an unlikely candidate—the humble carob pulp, a neglected food by-product. Their ...

A research team developed two flavor-enhancing techniques that transform carob pulp into a delicious, sustainable alternative to cocoa. Rising temperatures and the spread of crop diseases are placing ...

TANJUNG REJO, Indonesia — The loud whirr of a chainsaw sounds through the forest as a small group of farmers gathers around a tree filled with red seed pods. With one slow stroke, a severed knobby ...

Ivory Coast cocoa farmers are warning of a looming crisis: without financial support and fairer markets, cocoa yields will be “destroyed” by 2030. The West African nation is the biggest producer of ...

Seamus Blackley is best known for creating the Xbox game console. Now he has a new mission: to start a Los Angeles chocolate company. The challenge? Cacao trees don’t grow in the Southern California ...