Most people love chocolate.  Most of us, however, don't know where it comes from.  It began about 2000 years ago with the Aztec Indians and the Mayans.  They made a frothy drink from the seeds of the cacao tree.  The Spanish conquistadors brought some of these seeds back and new drink recipes were created.  These drinks spread though Europe.  It was a status symbol for the upper classes for about 300 years.  Plantations were created to help the production of cacao and sugar - both needed for chocolate.  In the 1800's, it was no longer a sign of the elite as it began to be mass produced with machinery.  The chocolate was improved so it no longer had to be a drink, it could be a bar.  Today, we have new machines that can produce the chocolate faster.  However, the collection of the cacao seeds has remained mostly the same.  One thing will never change - how much people love chocolate!