Chocolate Production Stages

The question

How to approach this process diagram question

A process diagram shows how something is made or how a cycle works. Describe the stages in order, using sequence language and the passive voice.

1. Say what process the diagram shows and how many stages it has.
2. Overview: the number of stages, where it starts and ends, and whether it is a cycle or a straight line.
3. Describe every stage in order (First, Next, After that, Finally) mostly in the passive: the grain is crushed.
4. Do not add opinions or explain why; describe what happens.

How to plan this answer

Structure

1. Overview: the diagram shows seven stages in two rows, starting with harvesting cocoa pods and ending with moulded chocolate.
2. Body 1: the first row, covering harvesting, removing beans, fermenting and drying.
3. Body 2: the second row, covering roasting, grinding and moulding, and the arrow between the two rows.

Key features to spot

• The cocoa pods are harvested from the branch of a tree.
• The beans are removed from the pods, which are yellow in the picture.
• The beans are fermented in a wooden box covered with leaves.
• The beans are dried on raised trays, with the warm air rising above them.
• The beans are roasted in a rotating drum and then ground into a thick, liquid chocolate that is moulded into bars.

Useful vocabulary

• are harvested from: The pods are harvested from the cocoa tree.
• are removed: The beans are removed from the pods.
• are left to ferment: The beans are left to ferment in wooden boxes.
• are spread out to dry: The beans are spread out to dry on trays.
• are roasted: The beans are roasted in a rotating drum.
• are ground: The roasted beans are ground into a thick liquid.
• are poured into: The liquid is poured into moulds.
• are moulded into: The chocolate is moulded into bars.
• is followed by: Drying is followed by roasting.
• the final stage: The final stage is moulding.

Common mistakes

• Putting roasting before drying. Drying is the fourth stage and roasting the fifth.
• Calling the ground product powder. The diagram shows a liquid being poured.
• Using beans before the beans have been removed. Refer to the pods until stage two.
• Missing the arrow from the end of the first row to the start of the second.
• Giving the stages without linking them with sequence words such as after that or finally.

Examiner tip: Use the passive voice for each stage, such as the pods are harvested, and make the two-row layout clear by mentioning the link between them.