Describe your dream chocolate bar.

Dude. This is easy:

• Dark Chocolate
• Almonds
• Dried Cherries
• Toffee Chunks
• A mocha layer encasing everything

I’m a health nut and try to make even my snacks healthy and tasty.

Did you know these chocolate facts:

🍫 Did you know that the word “cacao” comes from “kakawa,” which is likely from the ancient Olmec language? And “chocolate” is said to come from “xocolatl,” meaning “bitter water,” because of the bitter sipping chocolate loved by the Maya people in Belize. The scientific name for the cacao tree even means “food of the gods”!

💰 The Maya were amazing at growing plants and traded cacao seeds like money. Cacao trees have grown in Belize for 3,000 years and farmers there grow a special kind called Criollo, which is super high quality.

🏺 Archaeologists found pots in Maya ruins that had chocolate residue from 600 B.C.!

🌳 Cacao trees have fruit that look like footballs and each one has about 40 seeds inside. In the wild, they can grow super tall, but farmers keep them shorter to make harvesting easier.

🍴 Chocolate makers in Belize still use an ancient tool called a metate to grind cacao beans.

🥤 The Maya people had a special way of pouring chocolate to make a thick foam on top, which was the best part. They even showed this in their art!

🌽 According to Maya beliefs, cacao was around before people were even created. They thought it was one of the precious foods given to them by the gods.

🏭 In the 1980s, Hershey tried to help Belize grow more cacao, but it didn’t work out. Now, a group called the Toledo Cacao Growers Association helps farmers grow cacao in an organic and fair way. They even make a special chocolate bar called Maya Gold!