To make dark chocolate, cocoa mass is sent from Chirk to Cadbury’s chocolate making factories.
It’s mixed with extra cocoa butter and sugar, then ground and ‘conched’. Conching is a crucial process: it means the chocolate is rolled and kneaded, transforming itself from a gritty substance to a very smooth one.
Chocolate also needs to be ‘tempered’. This involves cooling it to a particular temperature, to make it stable. It means you get a nice glossy finish, and you don’t get the problem of cocoa butter rising to the surface – which is harmless, but spoils the look of the chocolate.
Now the dark chocolate is ready to use and can be poured into moulds or over chocolate centres. The finished chocolate bars or individual chocolates sail on down the production line to be wrapped and packed into boxes ready for distribution.
Learn how milk chocolate is made