GroundWorx
Illustration of cacao trees with pods growing from the trunk
Alcohols From the Earth

A tropical tree · Nonalcoholic

Chocolate: Theobroma cacao

Chocolate begins on a tree. Cacao beans and the pulp around them, gathered from pods, are where every bar and cup of chocolate starts.

Illustrative crop imagery · Not a GroundWorx customer site

The plant behind the cup

Beans and pulp

Chocolate is made from cacao beans and the pulp that surrounds them in the pod.

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A tree crop

Cacao grows on trees, so growers manage a living, multi-year root system.

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Pod to chocolate

Pods are opened, then beans are processed into chocolate.

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A year with the plant

General crop stages; timing varies with variety, region and management.

  1. 01

    Flowers

    The tree flowers to set pods.

  2. 02

    Pods

    Pods develop around beans and pulp.

  3. 03

    Harvest

    Ripe pods are gathered and opened.

  4. 04

    Processing

    Beans begin the journey to chocolate.

Ground truth before the glass

The GX-1 series angle · Cacao is a tree crop—exactly where the GX-1F, the only invisible tree sensor, belongs. Installed in the root zone, it builds a moisture, temperature and EC history beneath the canopy.

A root-zone record adds context beneath the crop: soil moisture, temperature and electrical conductivity at the measured location. Growers can consider that history alongside weather, field observations and their own agronomic advice.

These crop features are research context—not demonstrated crop performance, a sensor deployment prescription or a promise of beverage quality or yield.

Discuss a grower pilot

Research & sources