Chocolate Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Chocolate Research Paper Essay Chocolate is a key ingredient in many foods such as milk shakes, candy bars, cookies and cereals. It is ranked as one of the most favourite flavours in North America and Europe. Despite its popularity most people do not know the unique origin of this popular treat. Chocolate is a product that requires complex procedures to produce. The process involves harvesting cocoa, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, coaching and grinding. These cocoa beans will then be imported or exported to other countries and be transformed into different types of chocolate products. Cocoa beans grow in countries like Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Malaysia, but the highest cocoa producing country is Cote dIvoire. The production process of cocoa beans include: first, cocoa is harvested manually. The seed pods of cocoa are collected and the beans are selected and placed in piles. These cocoa beans are then ready to be shipped to the manufacturer for production. Cocoa grows in pods that sprout off the trunks and branches of cocoa trees. The pods have the shape and almost the size of football. The pods start out green and turn orange when they are ripe. When the pods are ripe they are harvested gently with machetes. Machines can damage the trees or the clusters of flowers and pods that grow on the trunk, so workers have to harvest the pods by hand, using short, hooked blades mounted on long poles to reach the highest fruit. The cocoa seeds then undergo a process of fermentation by placing them in large, shallow, heated trays or by covering them with large banana leaves. If the climate is right, they may be simply heated by the sun. Workers mostly women come along periodically and stir them up so that all of the beans come out equally fermented. This process may take up to five or eight days. After fermentation, the cocoa seeds are dried before they can be scooped into sacks and shipped to chocolate manufacturers. Farmers simply spread the fermented seeds on trays and leave them in the sun to dry. The drying process usually takes about a week and results in seeds becoming reduced to about half of their original weight. During the production process, labor is not equally divided between men and women who work in the planation; this brings us to the issue of gender division. The gender divide that exists on the cocoa plantation is that most farm work is conducted by men, although most certainly there are tasks where women are very active, such as scooping the beans from the already opened husks, turning the beans during the fermentation and drying process, and sewing the jute sacs needed for the packaging of the dried beans. Women in the farms normally tend to the needs of the family. When female labor is hired during the harvesting time the wages given to them are not the same as those for men. Perhaps another reason why men are preferred is because of their assumed higher productivity rate compared to that of women. Due to different practices followed in individual regions, even within countries, the participation of women and their assigned tasks vary enormously. For instance, because of the popular method of sun drying cocoa beans in Ecuador, it is necessary to â€Å"clean† the beans. This job is mostly undertaken by women. This is not the case in Ghana or Brazil where sun drying is accomplished while protecting the beans from foreign matters and waste. It is interesting to note however that there is no specific pattern for the assignment of tasks to women, except during the harvest when the scooping of the beans from the opened pods is primarily performed by women in most cocoa producing countries. Given the great differences in the systems of production in producing countries it is difficult to find a common percentage that reflects the average participation of the female work force. It is worth mentioning that unlike the coffee agricultural sector, there are no associations or specific groups that house ‘women only’ involved in the cocoa sector at any level, although all associations and cooperatives are open to all who qualify. Due to fluctuation of cocoa prices in the world market, farmers have no long-term security, and in some situations, they do not have enough funds to support their farming business. Cocoa farmers are always faced with financial hardship; they are not able to provide for their families as they would want nor have enough funds to start up their own farming business because they only receive a fraction of the proceeds from the selling of the beans on the world market and there are many people in the trading chain. Cocoa farmers around the world face many challenges. It is estimated that about one-third of global cocoa crops are destroyed by pests and diseases every year. Many cocoa farmers have limited access to the latest agricultural technologies or methods of cultivation and few of them have business backgrounds to help them effectively market their products and manage their operations. Many of the farming communities live in poverty and are infected with diseases. Industry groups, governments and consumers worldwide have raised concerns about the use of pesticides and child labor on West African cocoa farms. An interview conducted by Christophe Koffi showed that one major problem that women in cocoa production encounter is the lack the of financial capability or backing due to the fact that most of these women find themselves in a male dominated occupation. It is very difficult for them to secure financial aid or loans to manage their farms. For instance, â€Å"Women cannot inherit or even create a cocoa plantation under our patriarch-dominated tradition,† said Vanie, criticising what she called a â€Å"backwards and misogynist† practice† (Koffi, 2008) because we still live in a patriarchal dominated society where women do not have the right to own lands and properties. This paper further talks about the sustanability in the production process of cocoa. We will be looking at Lindt Sprungli’s which is a family company and a major producer of chocolate and other cocoa products with a headquaters in Kilchberg, Switzerland. Lindt Sprungli is one of the few chocolate makers that have complete control over every step of the production chain starting with the precise selection of the finest cocoa varieties from the best growing areas in the world right on through the careful and expert processing until ending with the elegant packaging. Lindt gets its cocoa beans mostly from Ghana and Central and South America. Lindt has been very conservative in the amount of energy its invests in the chocolate production process. Each existing and future facility and investment undergoes very detailed analysis to determine how much energy can be saved. Through better insulation and energy recovery, Lindt Sprungli was able to cut down on energy consumption by more than 13% per ton produced between 2004 and 2010. The company intends to continue reducing the energy consumption rate per ton produced by an average over the coming years. According to the Lindt publication, The company’s efforts: since 1999, Lindt Sprungli’s Swiss subsidiary, Chocoladefabriken Lindt Sprungli (Schweiz) AG, has been an active member of the Lake Zurich Energy Model Group†¦The Swiss government and independent engineers have audited the progress and as a result, the Swiss subsidiary has been granted the official certificate. (Kilchberg, 2012) Since 2007, Lindt Sprungli under water conservation has been participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)†¦Since then, the measurements of water emissions and energy consumption have been largely based on the concept of the ‘Methodology Fossil Fuels’ set out in the CDP Protocol†¦Waste water, Lindt Sprungli continuously monitors and analyses the use of water and the output of wastewater in the production process and intends to further reduce the use of fresh water in this process, which, in turn will impact the output of wastewater (Kilchberg, 2012). The major people that benefit from cocoa production are mostly the big corporations. The corporations exploit cocoa farmers in the sense that they do not pay them the true worth of their labour. Women who work on the farms are underpaid and marginalized. There is also the issue of child labor where children of school going age are forced to work on the farms instead of going to school thereby denying them the right to education. The big corporations are not forth coming in releasing information as to how and where they get their cocoa beans from. Most of these African countries where these big corporations get their raw materials from do not have access to good roads, health care facilities, schools, electricity, and there is poverty in most of the communities. These big corporations buy the cocoa beans at a very cheap rate and then import them to the western society and the refined product is processed into different kinds of chocolates (e. g. chocolate drink, chocolate bars of different shapes and sizes and chocolate candies etc. ) . Which are sold consumers at exorbitant prices considering the price at which the cocoa beans are bought from the cocoa farmers. This explains how capitalism and big corporation exploit cheap labour. Almost everyone enjoys a bit of chocolate every now and again. But if you take a closer look at how cocoa is produced, it may well leave a bitter taste in your mouth. The conditions under which the cocoa farmers in many producer countries live and work are worrying: Despite the fact that cocoa is usually their main source of income, the families struggle to make a living from it. Child labour is not uncommon. As consumers we can work with NGOs to find means of helping the farmers to adapt to new systems of cocoa farming that result higher yields, under socially more acceptable and environmentally friendly conditions, to meet market demands and hence ensure a stable flow income. As a major part of the global cocoa industry which has remained inactive and invisible for so long, consumers of chocolate can demonstrate that they want slavery in the cocoa sector stamped out, and your pressure can highlight their lack of commitment and make them more accountable. Finally all cocoa products, including chocolate, run the risk of being tainted by child labour and slavery. To achieve a satisfactory standard of ethical production in chocolate consumers must help to ensure that companies commit to credible and sufficient actions against such things as use of child labour and the exploitation of cocoa farmers and not make false and unsustainable promises to consumers of being â€Å"slavery- free†. The consumers can liaise with government bodies and NGOs to negotiate fair prices for the purchase of cocoa products and this will in turn help the farmers to gain access to basic social amenities of life. Reference Page Archer, D. (2012). ADM’s commitment to sustainable cocoa. Milwaukee: Copyright 2012 Archer Daniels Midland Company . Clarkson, T. (1998). Anti-slavery. Retrieved November 15, 2012, from www. antislavery. org: http://www. antislavery. org/english/privacy_policy. aspx Kilchberg. (2012, April 22). The environment in the Production Process. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from www. Lindt. com: http://www. lindt. com/swf/eng/company/social-responsibility/lindts-sustainable-cocoa-supply-chain/ Koffi, C. (2008, November 7). Ivory Coast women defy taboos. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from iol News: http://www. iol. co. za/news/africa/ivory-coast-women-defy-taboos-1. 423405.

The Scarlet Letter :: Essays Papers

The Scarlet Letter In this novel Hester Prynee is represented in several different ways. Before this story starts she was sent to Boston by her husband (Roger Chillingworth) who was supposed to be meeting her there shortly. He never makes it, she assumes he died at sea. While in Boston she meets Rev. Dimmesdale she has an affair with him and gets pregnent. He then starts to ignore her. Months later when everyone finds out about her illegitimate daughter (Pearl) and that she is un married. She is looked upon with great sin. When she is first introduced into the novel she is in the prison. She emerges wearing an elaborately emroidered scarlet letter â€Å"A† (meaning adultery) on her breast, and carries her 3 month old infant in her arms. She is led onto the scaffold where she has to stand in fron of the whole town as part of her punishment. While on the scaffold she has flashbacks of her old life, this is where we first learn about the real Hester Prynne. The rest of her punishment is that she has to wear the scarlet â€Å"A† for the rest of her life. The Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale pleads with Hester to tell the name of the man she had a sexual affair with, but she will not. After the 3 hours she is lead back to the prison with Pearl. At this point in the novel we learn that back in England Hester was married to a man, Roger Chillingworth. This man is now in Boston and comes to visit Hesters prison cell. Hester and Dimmesdale discuss who is at fault for her affair. He admits that he will find the father though. When Hester is released from prison she has the choice to go anywhere in the world, but she chooses to stay in Boston where she commited her sin and where she will have her punishment. She starts sewing and sells her garments but puritan society never accepts her. Believes â€Å"A† allows her to see sinful and immoral feelings in other people. Hesters strength is most seen when she goes to the Governers mansion to plead for her daughter. In the following years Hester and Dimmesdale start speaking again. Now you will be able to see her weaker side.She falls in love with him all over, they plan to leave Boston and move to Bristol, England and live the rest of their lives there. But they never make it, When Hester dies she is burried next to Dimmesdale. Physically Hester at the begining of the novel is a tall young woman with a figure of

Master

It includes: copying information directly from the Web or books without referencing the material; submitting Joint coursework as an individual effort; copying another student's rework; stealing coursework from another student and submitting it as your own work. Suspected plagiarism will be investigated and if found to have occurred will be dealt with according to the procedures set down by ELLS. Please see your student handbook for further details of what is / Isn't plagiarism.Assignment Regulations 1 Learners are required to submit their work using the ELLS Assessment cover sheet. 2 You are required to submit your assignment electronically on Mayhap – mayhap. Molly's. Com If you need an extension (even for one day) for a valid reason, you must request one, using a reasonable adjustment form available from the Academic Admit Office. Do not ask the lecturers responsible for the course – they are not authorized to award an extension.The completed form must be accompanied by evidence such as a medical certificate in the event of you being sick. 4 General guidelines for submission of assignment: a) All work must be word-processed and must be of â€Å"good† standard. B) Document margins shall not be more than 2. CM or less than 1. CM c)Font size In the range of be of a common standard such as Arial or Times New Roman for the main text. D) Any computer files generated such as program code (software), graphic files that arm part of the course work must be submitted either online or with the documentation.The answers show that an effective approach to study and research has been applied within the scenarios e. G. Comparing concepts, theories and models. MM Select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques A range of methods and techniques have been applied. A range of sources of information used The selection of methods and techniques/ sources Justified Complex information/data has been synthesized and processed Appropriate learning methods/te chniques applied. A range of sources have been used to address the tasksMM Present and communicate appropriate findings Appropriate structure and approach has been used. Accurately used A range of methods of presentation has been used Appropriate media used Familiar and unfamiliar contexts have been used. It is appropriate for familiar and unfamiliar audiences Logical and coherent arguments have been presented with technical language accurately used in both tasks Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and Justify valid conclusions Synthesis has been used to generate and Justify valid conclusions The validity of exults have been evaluated using defined criteria. Realistic improvements have been proposed against defined characteristics for success Realistic improvements have been proposed against defined characteristics for success DO Take responsibility for managing and organizing activities Autonomy / independence demonstrated The unforeseen has been accommodated The importanc e of interdependence has been recognized High autonomy and independence have been demonstrated.Tasks have been attempted with minimum assistance provided by the tutor DO Demonstrate convergent/lateral/ creative thinking sessions taken Self-evaluation has taken place Convergent and lateral thinking have been applied. Problems have been solved Innovation and creative thought have been applied. Receptiveness to new ideas has been demonstrated. Ideas generated and Effective thinking has taken place in unfamiliar contexts.Innovation and creative thought have been applied when addressing both tasks Classic Badges Company Brief Classic Badges Company is in the early stages of setting up as a new mini enterprise which will sell custom made badges to local companies. They are hoping to target he local authority, schools, youth organizations, health service and local dental surgeries. They plan to sell badges which can be tailored to individual needs. The knowledge, effective communication me dia with the suppliers and potential customers such as the local authority, school etc who may be interested in buying the badges.Charles needs a team to take responsibility for the setting up of the company and the communication media to be used to promote the badges. You have been selected as one of the team members to work on this project. You are to collaborate with team members to set up Classic Badges Company. Note: Use the above scenario to answer ONLY TASK 1 ; 2. And read through all of the tasks carefully so that you know what you will need to do to complete this assignment in a fully written report. Tasks 1 – Understand how to assess information and knowledge needs 1 . : In Setting up Classic Badges Company, what are the major range of decisions to be taken? Discuss 1. 2: Identify and examine the kind of information and knowledge needed to ensure that an effective decisions are taken. 1. 3: List and assess internal and external sources of information required and Ju stify heir suitability and reliability for this project. 1. 4: Recommend any improvements in the use of different kinds or sources information and knowledge for the setting up of this project.Tasks 2 – Be able to create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decision making process. 2. 1: There are several stakeholders in involved in this project, what contributions would you expect from the different stakeholders during a specific decision making process? 2. 2: An effective business relationship with these stakeholders is important. Discuss ethos of contact that will enhance business relationship with stakeholders. 2. 3: Prepare a plan on how to involve those identified in the decision making for this project.You may consider a stakeholder communication plan or a decision making action plan. 2. 4: To improve on involving others in the decision making process for this project, it is important to improve on your personal networking skills. What strategy would you Tasks 3 – Be able to develop communication processes Using the context of your current or previous workplace, prepare a report addressing he following issues but first you'll need to provide a brief business overview (business description, legal status, mission statement, general information, product/ service description). . 1 : Report on existing processes of communication in this organization. 3. 2: Identify the pitfalls existing in the current communication processes and design ways to improve it. 3. 3: Recommend the improvements that need to be implemented to ensure greater integration of systems of communication in that organization. 3. 4: Create a personal plan to improve own communication skills. Tasks 4 – Be able to improve systems relating to information and knowledge Complete this part of your report using the same chosen organization in Task 3: 4. : Report on existing approaches to the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of i nformation and knowledge in this organization. 4. 2: Discuss the appropriate changes that need to be carried out to improve the collection, formatting, storage and dissemination of information and knowledge in this organization. 4. 3: Recommend a strategy that needs to be implemented to improve access to systems of information and knowledge in this organization. Master A metal made up of a combination of two or more materials. Atmospheric pressure The weight of air creates a pressure on the Earth's surface and the pressure exerted by the weight of air pressing down on the ground below will vary depending on the ground's height above sea level. Boiling When a liquid vaporizes. Capillary action When water is drawn up between close fitting surfaces. Compression force A crushing force. Condensation When a gas turns into a liquid. Conduction Method by which solids transfer heat.Convection Method by which liquids and gases transfer heat. Corrosion The deterioration of metals that occurs on contact with liquids. Ductility Ductility Is the ability of a material to withstand distortion without fracture, such as metal that can be drawn into fine wire. Durability Durability is the material's ability to resist wear and tear. Elasticity A material's ability to stretch tensile force is applied to them. When the point is reached that the material will no longer r eturn to it's original shape and size the material is said to have exceeded it's elastic limit or yield stress. Equilibrium When all acting influences are balanced.Evaporation When a liquid turns Into a gas. Ferrous metal A metal which contains iron. Freezing When a liquid turns Into a solid. Fusibility The melting point of a material, I. E. When a solid changes too liquid. Hardness Hardness is the ability of a material to resist scratching, wear and tear and Heat which causes a change of state in a substance, but does not affects its temperature. Malleability The ability of a material to be worked without fracture. Melting When a solid turns into a liquid. Non-ferrous metal A metal which does not contain iron. Plasticity The propensity of a material to undergo permanent changes in shape.H scale Measures the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A pH of 7 represents neutral water. Reduction A method of producing metals is by removing the oxygen from the ore. Relative density The rati o of the density of a substance to the density of a standard substance under specific conditions. The relative density of a solid is found by comparing it to the same volume of water. The relative density of a gas is found by comparing it to the same volume of air. Sensible heat Heat which only causes a change in temperature, not a change of state. Shear force Opposing forces acting along parallel lines of action.Strength The strength of a material is the extent to which it can withstand an applied force or load without breaking. The load is expressed in terms of force per unit area (Newton's per square meter N/mm). Temper The degree of hardness of a material. Tenacity A material's ability to resist being pulled apart. Tensile force A stretching or pulling force. Thermoplastics Plastics which are liquid when heated and hard when cooled. These plastics can be reshaped repeatedly. Thermosetting plastics Plastics which are resistant to high temperatures. Once set, these plastics cannot be reshaped. Velocity Speed of motion.

Marketing Plan Cocacola Vietnam - 3510 Words

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