How to make a simple milk chocolate bar
Chocolate isn't that easy to plant, make and sell. You can't just plant a few beans and then - "poof!" a chocolate bar is made. No, a chocolate bar requires tons of patience and hard work. (Luckily we can always go down to a store and then buy a choccie bar for less than $10.) Here is the steps to make a simple milk chocolate bar:
You will need:
-Lots of cacao seedings
-A plane ticket to a hot place (Near the equator)
-A cleaning machine
-A giant oven
-A cracker/fanner
-A grinding mill
-Sugar
-Vanilla
-Condensed milk
-A chocolate factory
1.Pick your bean. The three main varieties of cacao beans used in chocolate are Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario.
Criollos are particularly difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental threats and produce low yields of cocoa per tree. The flavour of Criollo is unique. It is described as delicate yet complex, low in classic chocolate flavour, but rich in "secondary" notes of long duration.
Forastero is a large group of wild and cultivated cacaos, most likely native to the Amazon basin. The African cocoa crop is entirely of the Forastero variety. They are significantly hardier and of higher yield than Criollo. Forastero cocoas are typically strong in classic "chocolate" flavour, but have a short duration and are unsupported by secondary flavours.
Trinitario is a natural hybrid of Criollo and Forastero. Trinitario originated in Trinidad (hence the name) after an introduction of (Amelonado) Forastero to the local Criollo crop. These cocoas encompass a wide range of flavour profiles according to the genetic heritage of each tree.
Nearly all cacao produced over the past five decades is of the Forastero or lower-grade Trinitario varieties. The share of higher quality Criollos and Trinitarios (so-called flavour cacao) is just under 5% per annum.
Cacao trees are difficult to grow and cultivate as they will only grow twenty degrees north and twenty degrees south of the equator. The temperature for cacao trees cannot drop below sixty degrees fahrenheit without damaging the tree.
2.Harvesting cacao beans is a delicate process. First, the pods, containing cacao beans, are harvested. The beans, together with their surrounding pulp, are removed from the pod and placed in piles or bins to ferment for three to seven days. The fermentation process is what gives the beans the chocolate taste that we know and love. The beans must then be quickly dried to prevent mold growth; weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun.
3.The dried beans are transported from the plantation where they were grown to a chocolate manufacturing facility.The beans are then cleaned (removing twigs, stones, and other debris), roasted, and graded. Next the shells are removed to extract the nib. Finally, the nibs are ground which releases and melts the cocoa butter producing chocolate liquor, or cocoa mass. It is what we use in cooking, called cocoa powder.
4.Mix in sugar and condensed milk. It will turn into some kind of paste. Pass the paste through a series of rotating rollers, and it will become what we call "chocolate crumb". Add back the cocoa butter from the last step.
5.Heat the chocolate crumb in huge vats. Move giant rollers slowly over it for a few days. (Told you it requires patience.)
6.Slowly reduce the temperature so that the chocolate is "tempered". Then put the chocolate into moulds and wait for them to set.
7.Wrap the chocolate into the wrappers. Don't worry, the machines will do it for you!
8.Enjoy your chocolate! (But do take the wrapper off first. It's paper, you know.)
If you really wish to make a chocolate bar, you can check out our recipies page sent in by other people.
Source: Terrific chocolate
How to invent a new chocolate bar
This is much harder than making a simple bar. It takes tons of patience and hard work. (Now where have I heard of that before?)
You will need:
-A supporting company (or if you are very rich you can build one yourself)
-A group of staff
-Lots of money
-A wild imagination
-Some volunteers
-A chocolate factory
-A bit of luck
1. The research
To make a chocolate bar, you have to know what people like. Surveying is a good idea. You can send several people to ask citizens or put it into the internet. Then call on a meeting with your staff and discuss. You can also research on the successful bars in the past. What made them special? Why do people like them? What are their sales p.a.? (Come to think of it, you can also add those questions into the survey.)
2. The idea
How will this bar be special? Will it glow in the dark, or maybe when you break it, it has a fortune paper in it? (Like fortune cookies!) Whatever it is, just make sure that it doesn't get copied by others. Here's a rule for all chocolate makers: ALWAYS KEEP YOUR IDEAS SECRET! In 1981, the Wispa bar was so popular that newspapers reported that people were grabbing the bars for their lives. They kept all their recipes in top secret. All reports and designs were shredded and burned. (Then why would they need to shred them?) The Wispa department had succeeded. If they had let their secret out, they would not have been that successful.
3. The recipe
That's a vital thing. Your recipe should be non-poisonous (obviously) and delicious. It also has to be unique -- the recipe should be unobvious when the bar is sold or your rivals (yes, once you begin a business, you will have lots of rivals) would not be able to copy it easily. This step can take up to 2 years.
4. The maths
Sadly, maths is required for chocolate-making. Your ingredients cannot be too expensive or else you'll have to sell it at a high price too and remember, you have rivals. If your bar costs $20 and the others cost $5, will you expect people to buy it? Also, calculate how much the machines will cost, the workers' salary, the transportation fee, the estimated cost of the adverts, etc.
5. The name
Thinking of a right name is important. You don't want to give your custumers a bad impression of the bar. Your name can be something special about the bar (e.g. The Crunchie bar is named Crunchie because it's -- you guessed it -- crunchy!), or named after yourself (e.g. Mars bars are named after its creator, Forrest Mars. M&M's is named after Forrest Mars and his partner, Burce Murrie.) You will have to make a list of names and discuss that in another meeting with your staff. (You wouldn't want to end up like the chocolate flop "Skum Banana", would you?)
6. The testing
That's yet another hard step. You test the bar by giving to the volunteers and telling them to rate it. (Roald Dahl, writer of the popular children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, once got to taste a box of different numbered bars sent by Cadbury when he was in school in Repton. Some are already in the stores, some are not. Roald was asked to rate the bars on a piece of paper provided.) Or maybe you can give it to your relatives/friends/brothers/sisters/pet and tell them to rate it. But be careful -- if your relative/friend/brother/sister/pet is nice, he/she/it might tell you that he/she/it likes it, even though he/she/it dosen't really do. Tell him/her/it to be honest, and tell their true comments of the bar. If you passed this step, you're doing quite good!
7. The wrapper
Wrappers are important. It is yet another way of making the bar attractive. You can also tell what kind of people the bars are for. (Of course, you'll probably want everyone to like it) And the colours also make a difference. Bright red make people feel excited. Orange bars make people feel more hungry. Who knows? Maybe you can add holograms to the wrappers, or put a mini-game on it!
8. The test launch
Now to put your bar to sale. Not yet! You still need to test launch it. Test launching is selling the bar in a small region of a country. You can then see if the people really like it. If not, you wouldn't waste all those money spending on those transportation. This step may take a long time.
9. The adverts
Now to tell everyone about your bar. Put your adverts somewhere you think people may pay attention at it. You can put it in bus stops, newspapers, TV commercials, or even through a megaphone on a bus! (People might think you're annoying, though.) Also come up with a good slogan. It may be something about the bar, a well known phrase, or just a few words. Maybe you could invite a rock star to say something about the bar! This step will need millions of dollars, so start saving up your pocket money! (Opps--I shouldn have told you earlier.)
10. Shipping (Transporting) and packaging
To ensure your chocolate candies arrive in good condition, put them in a tin or box and wrap it in bubble wrap. (The ones that kids like to pop with their fingers) Then ship via an overnight carrier service. If the weather is very hot, include a cold pack with it to help stabilize the surrounding temperature. You don't want it to melt, do you? Plus, include notes telling shops how to keep the chocolate bars in good condition, including the temperature, tips to store the chocolate, and (this is important!) its sell by date.
11. The big day
Finally, after so many hard work, your bar is in the shops worldwide. Will your bar be taken and eaten by thousands of hungry mouths, or will it become an ultimate flop? But do remember, only 1 out of 12 bars will be a huge success. Others go on a one-way trip to the "chocolate flop" bin. (This is where the bit of luck comes in handy.)
12. Attractions
So your chocolate bar is a great success! But how do you boost sales? Here are some suggestions:
-put 10 bars in a big pack and sell it at a lower price. Call it the "fun pack".
-advertise it in movies, popular TV shows, etc.
-set up a new collecting craze by putting collectibles (e.g. stikers, tokens, etc.) in your chocolate bar
-try new flavours. Go on, be bold! Now that your first bar is popular, fans are bound to try it!
-produce some "healthier" editions, e.g. less sugar. People nowadays are very concerned about health.
Happy chocolate making!
