Chocolate University Online Blog
The 2009 U.S. chocolate market is considered “recession-resilient.” Chocolate sales increased 3% in 2009 over 2008. That translates into record sales of $17 billion!
Researchers predict that chocolate sales will continue to increase and could exceed $19 billion by 2014.
According to an article on www.marketwire.com, most of the 2009 growth comes from the 75% of Americans who, in spite of increases in chocolate prices, kept buying quality chocolate as an affordable treat.
The chocolate market in the U.S. is competitive, but companies that continue to offer products in the area of functional chocolate, use ingredients such as super fruits, or incorporate savory and exotic flavors will have an edge.
Trends like singe-origin chocolates and extra high cocoa content may be slowing down.
One quote from the Marketwire article really hit home with me. Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts (a market research publication) says, “For many chocolate-loving Americans it’s more about the experience than it is about mere consumption…”
He put into words what I have been sensing for quite some time. The chocolate consumer wants to appreciate chocolate more and the market is filling up with people who are more chocolate savvy than ever before.
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate prices, functional chocolate, single origin
Reports show that 71 percent of the milk served nationwide is flavored, and the predominant flavor is chocolate. Most public schools offer chocolate milk as an alternative to white milk. 
But chocolate milk is the center of controversy in many cities in the US. The school districts of the District of Columbia; Berkeley, California; and Boulder, Colorado have already banned chocolate milk from the cafeteria. Florida schools are considering it.
What’s the big deal?
As you probably know, obesity among children is on the rise in the US and foods high in sugar get a lot of blame. Of course, there are two sides to every story, and this is no exception.
On the one hand chocolate milk is higher in sugar (almost twice as much) than white milk but on the other hand, many kids refuse to drink milk if it isn’t chocolate, and to grow up without the nutritional benefits of milk is unwise.
Milk, both chocolate and white, provides calcium, protein and vitamin D, all of which are lacking in our kids’ diets according recent studies.
Some parents say the added sugar in chocolate milk is worth the nutritional trade-off, while others say it is sending the wrong message about beverages high in sugar being part of a healthy diet.
What say you? If you have an opinion, please comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on chocolate milk in school.
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate milk, nutrition, obesity
Is it really possible to get sick of eating chocolate?
According to feedback from participants in a medical research study out of Australia, it is! What, no way! Sure enough, read on…
 Heart patients were given 50 grams of 70% chocolate to be consumed daily as medicine during a research study on how the antioxidants in chocolate help control blood pressure.
By the end of the study, many participants said they would rather take a pill containing the antioxidants than eat any more chocolate. About half the people in the study found the chocolate difficult to eat because of the strong flavor and about 20 percent “considered it an unacceptable long-term treatment option” over the concern for the fat and calories from the chocolate.
Although I wouldn’t have a problem eating 50 grams of 70% chocolate each day (ahem, I do eat 50 grams of 70% a day), I guess I can understand where they are coming from. First of all, if you prefer milk chocolate, dark chocolate is not going to stay palatable for very long, and second, who wants to take chocolate as medicine – dispensed like a prescription drug? I mean, besides a freak like me?
The good news is, the study found dark chocolate to be very helpful in reducing blood pressure.
I doubt that doctors will start handing out chocolate instead of pill prescriptions (but one can dream) so for now, eat chocolate because it is fun and has great flavor. Oh, and because it is good for you, too!
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: antioxidants, dark chocolate, research
Chocolate for chocolate’s sake is just not cutting it anymore with consumers. Apparently we are demanding chocolate with more meaning, purpose, and benefit.
The general term for this type of chocolate is “functional chocolate.” Functional chocolates supply a nutritional benefit and chocolate is a good vehicle for transporting things like vitamins, probiotics, omega-3, and calcium.
 In the last couple years, a few companies have introduced functional chocolates and one of them is Maramor Chocolates. You can find some of their products at Walgreen’s and GNC stores across the nation.
The Maramor website, explains that they started as a chocolate shop inside an Ohio restaurant in 1923. The shop made hand-crafted chocolates and sold them retail for years. Later the shop evolved into a large scale manufacturing facility.
Today, Maramor offers functional chocolates that include probiotic and omega-3 in both milk and dark chocolate. They recently added a calcium truffle.
According to a 2008 consumer survey, about 21 per cent of chocolate lovers are interested in chocolate that has added functional ingredients.
Watch out, though. Functional chocolate continues to be controversial when it comes to health claims and regulating standards.
First and foremost, I choose to eat chocolate because I enjoy the flavor, the aroma, and the luxury of something rich and decadent. But if I am going to snack on something, it might as well be chocolatey and nutritious.
Its nice having options!
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: antioxidants, functional chocolate, nutritional benefits
According to the TripAdvisor website, www.tripadvisor.com, they have come up with a list of US attractions that satisfy a sweet-tooth.
Not all of these include chocolate, but I thought the list was pretty interesting anyway.
Here you are (drum roll please) the top 10 US destinations for the lovers of all things sweet!
- Hershey’s Chocolate World, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Chocoholics rejoice. Jump aboard a free tour ride on a simulated journey through the chocolate making process. Of course, samples are part of the experience.
- Jelly Belly Factory Tour, Fairfield, California
The Jelly Belly factory offers free 40-minute tours of their candy-making process.
- Food on Foot Tours, New York City, New York
A three-hour guided tour to some of the city’s sweetest offerings of cookies, cupcakes, candy and more.
- M&M’s World, Las Vegas, Nevada
Visit their four-story retail outlet and see M&M dispensers dishing out every color of M&M’s possible. And shop ‘til you drop.
- Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, Waterbury, Vermont
30-minutes of your time will include a movie about the history of the company and a guided tour of the ice cream making process.
- Gourmet Walks, San Francisco, California
Take in the artisan chocolatiers with a three-hour guided tour. Three hours may not be enough!
- New World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta, Georgia
Explore Coca-Cola’s history and check out the samples of Coke from around the world.
- Bellagio Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
This hotel boasts the world’s tallest chocolate fountain! Guinness World Records records the fountain at 27-feet tall and uses more than 2,100 pounds of dark, white, and milk chocolate.
- Angell & Phelps Chocolate Factory, Daytona Beach, Florida
Tour Angell & Phelps Chocolate Factory and get a glimpse of candy making the old-fashioned way. The factory opened in 1925.
- Eli’s Cheesecake World, Chicago, Illinois
Take the guided tour of their bakery and learn about the history and cheese making process the way Eli’s has for last 30 years.
Enjoy!
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate destinations
Eat chocolate if you’re pregnant, research says. As if a woman, pregnant or not, needs an excuse to eat chocolate!
A recent study has shown that the beneficial effects of chocolate can lower cardiovascular problems and prevent hypertension during pregnancy.
The antioxidants and flavanols in chocolate may protect cells from damage caused by oxidation and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The exact mechanism of the cardioprotective properties in chocolate are unknown, but the positive effects are well documented.
Among pregnant women, the study suggests a correlation between eating chocolate and lowering the risk of preeclampsia and gestational hypertension (high blood pressure).
More studies are needed to solidify these findings, but so far things are heading in the right direction.
The news about the health benefits of chocolate keep getting better and better!
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: antioxidants, health benefits
About a month ago, ice cream retailer Baskin-Robbins retired 5 flavors on their menu. The company wants to make room for new flavors so they put these five into “the deep freeze.”
One of the flavors being retired is Super Fudge Truffle which was introduced in 2007. Superfudge Truffle is a chocolate fudge ice cream with chunks of chocolate ganache and toffee truffle pieces.
In my opinion, you should never retire an ice cream flavor that includes chocolate ganache!
Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins, a pair of brothers-in-law in California. They have been known for their 31 flavors which stood for a different flavor each day of the month. Over the years, they have created over 1,000 unique flavors.
Baskin-Robbins has a history of creating ice cream flavors with themes of historic events and pop cultural icons, real or fictional.
In the early 60′s when Beatlemania hit the US they created the flavor Beatle Nut. When astronauts landed on the moon there was Lunar Cheesecake. In 2002, Shrek Swirl was inspired by the green ogre from the hit movie, “Shrek.”
I went to the Baskin-Robbins website to find out plans for replacing the five retired flavors, but so far I have come up empty handed. What I’m really dying to know is if they plan on replacing Super Fudge Truffle with another ganache loaded ice cream.
Long Live Chocolate Ice Cream!
(** Even the Baskin-Robbins website show Super Fudge Tuffle with 3 word spelling and the two word Superfudge Truffle. So I used both too.)
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate truffles, ice cream
Food on a stick is a staple at many State Fairs.
And some of the food on a stick is deep-fried, frozen, and then covered in chocolate.
Yum?
My own state fair, the Wisconsin State Fair, is no different than any other in offering the unusual, the unique and the… weird (some would say gross)!
I went to the Wisconsin State Fair website and was a little surprised to see an entire page dedicated to listing the fair’s food on stick menu.
I think the chocolate covered bacon on a stick even made the news last year and it is again listed for this year, 2010. I haven’t tried the state fair’s version of chocolate covered bacon, but I have eaten some from other sources including my local chocolates shop and have to admit I enjoyed it! You can find a chocolate covered bacon review in a previous blog post.
If chocolate covered bacon on a stick is not for you, maybe one of these treats from other State Fairs is more your style:
- Chocolate-covered tiramisu on-a-stick
- Twinkie log on-a-stick (frozen Twinkie dipped in white chocolate and rolled in cashews)
- Chocolate-dipped cake on-a-stick
- Frozen s’more on-a-stick
- Chocolate covered banana on-a-stick
- Deep fried Snickers bar on-a-stick
- Deep fried 3 Musketeers bar on-a-stick
- Deep fried Milky Way bar on-a-stick
- Frozen fudge brownie on-a-stick
I just can’t work up the courage to try the deep fried candy bars on a stick. A wee voice in my head keeps chanting “big-butt-on-a-stick” and it won’t go away.
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: candy bars, chocolate novelties
No, you did not read that wrong and I did not mistype caramel.
There is something new in the milk chocolate world – one made with camel’s milk instead of cow’s milk!
 According to the Al-Nassma Chocolate website, camel’s milk makes great milk chocolate, and it’s healthier than cow’s milk.
Camel milk contains five times more vitamin C and less lactose than cow milk. It also contains less fat. And camel milk may be easier on the stomach for people suffering lactose intolerance.
Al-Nassma sells their camel milk chocolate in a store next to their camel farm in Dubai, UAE. Soon, you will be able to purchase online.
I read that the company is planning to sell their product at Harrods in London. Guess it’s time to go visit my sister who lives there. Wouldn’t that be cool, the two of us sipping tea and eating camel milk chocolate pralines!
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate formulas, milk chocolate
Here is something unusual in the chocolate world, especially since it isn’t chocolate.
 Sahagun Handmade Chocolates has introduced this 100% COFFEE bar that looks like a traditional chocolate bar.
They call it KA-POW!
This looks like chocolate but it’s not.
I suspect this is the World Premier of the very first coffee bar. You get the bar in several different coffee single origin varieties: Guatemalan, Costa Rican, Brazilian, and Zambian.
 Only $5 per bar to experience, uh, KA-POW! I wonder how much caffeine is in this thing?
I’m guessing students who pull an all-nighter for their semester exams will cherish one of these in their care packages from home.
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: caffeine, coffee, not quite chocolate
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