***Why not just grow cocoa plants in the areas of the Americas where the conditions are right?***
Chocolate was rationed during WWII - don’t remember why. But it seems of all the State Agricultural Departments we have - surely one State has the right topography and climate for this valuable crop.
This is why Nutella was invented by the Ferrero family. They were confectioners. Hazelnuts were plentiful in certain parts of Italy, while chocolate was getting more expensive.
That would be Hawai'i -- and ONLY Hawai'i. Cacao can only be grown in a tropical climate which provides sufficient heat and humidity, at the Equator or within 10 degrees of it.
Because of the sugar shortages and shift in production that sent the chocolate to the troops?