With a height of "only" 15 meters, the evergreen cacao tree belongs to the undergrowth in the Amazon jungle. It likes it shady, roots only shallowly and needs neighboring trees to support it; even at maximum size, its trunk remains thin. Throughout the year, yellowish to reddish flowers appear directly on the trunk and on the thicker branches, where the yellowbrauncacao fruits, about 30 centimeters long, also ripen. Embedded in their flesh are five rows of seeds - the cocoa beans.

As early as 1,100 B.C., the Olmecs on the Gulf of Mexico were already using cocoa; it came to the Mayas via trade routes and only in the 14th century to the Aztecs of Central America. They called it "xocoatl" - bitter water. Today, cocoa comes mainly from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, as well as Indonesia. After harvesting, the cocoa fruits are broken open and the cocoa beans are fermented, dried and roasted; it is only through this treatment that they acquire their characteristic aroma and black color. By grinding and pressing the beans treated in this way, the valuable cocoa butter is obtained.

A good half of the cocoa bean consists of a pale yellow fat that becomes liquid at body temperature - cocoa butter. Due to its high content of saturated fatty acids, it has a shelf life of up to two years, but is not highly recommended for cooking. In cosmetics, on the other hand, its best properties come into their own: it is quickly absorbed and makes the skin supple without leaving a greasy film on it. Last but not least, it gives cosmetic products a pleasant smell faintly reminiscent of cocoa.