Watch Cocoa Growers in Ivory Coast Taste Chocolate for the First Time

The stories behind the objects we interact with daily are often incredible. The lives of the people who helped make the food we eat are rarely, if ever, thought of. All we see is the milk swirling in our iced coffee, the glistening oysters served to us with sliced lemons. We consume it all without thinking about the hours of labor, of emotion that went into a single, satisfying bite of food.

Looking to bring perspective, Metropolis interviews Ivory Coast cocoa farmers who harvest the beans but have never tasted chocolate, the final product. Despite cocoa being a multi-billion dollar industry, chocolate remains an expensive luxury for these farmers and their families.

“Frankly, I do not know what one makes from cocoa beans,” Farmer N’Da Alphonse says. “I’m just trying to earn a living with growing cocoa. They make good food from them, but I’ve never seen that.”

Below, N’Da Alphonse and his friends taste chocolate for the first time. Needless to say, their response is nothing short of wonderful.