Research and Technology

In an effort to compensate for lagging sales, a number of chocolate and cocoa-based companies have adopted technological solutions to increase efficiency and lower production costs. Grace Cocoa's new Chocolate Americas Division headquarters, for example, built a$95-million plant with 335,000 square feet of computer integrated manufacturing constructed on a barren site in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, industrial park. According to a Candy Industry interview with Dave Pollock, director of manufacturing at the new factory, "this really is the future."

Part of the new technology in the plant includes the computerization of a number of production processes. While this has helped facilitate more efficient productivity, it also has engendered a number of challenges. One of these was retraining employees who were familiar with only rudimentary chocolate making procedures. The state of Wisconsin helped offset some of the retraining costs by contributing 50 percent of the cost of employees' tuition at local technical colleges.

Cocoa has become such an intrinsic and valuable part of the U. S. economy that efforts by industry and science are underway to better understand the bean itself. The American Cocoa Research Institute contributed $1.5 million to Penn State University's Molecular Biology of Cocoa program. The main objective of the program is to increase understanding of the biology, botany, and genetics of the cocoa plant. The objectives of the study include the study of disease resistance, quality, plant delivery, and tools.