Tag Archive: world chocolate

Chocolate as Favorite Food

Is chocolate your favorite food?  Recently a study was completed that asked an open-ended question of people from 17 different countries to name their favorite food.  Chocolate made the published list of top 15 favorites in only 5 of those countries.

Today we can celebrate with the Australians.  Australia was the only country on the list that named chocolate as its number 1 favorite food!  A total of 8.9% of the surveyed population gave that answer.  I'm going to have to visit Australia and hang out with the abundance of chocolate lovers.
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Chocolate and Countries

Here’s are some facts and tidbits of the early history of the use of cacao tree, the main source of chocolate!

Chocolate was first developed in the area now called Mexico. In 1519 it was served during breakfast by emperor Moctezuma to his guest, Hernan Cortes Pizarro. 

The Spanish conquistador was so impressed with the delicious taste of the “chocolatl” made from cocoa beans that he brought the recipe back home to Spain.  He also brought cacao trees with him and he named it the precious tree.
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New Flavors of Chips Ahoy!

Chips Ahoy is a popular cookie product that many of us grew up with. These cookies were a blessing for those of us who desire to eat chocolate chip cookies but lack the time to make them ourselves.

In 1963, Nabisco started manufacturing this wonderful product. With a genius slogan of “Betcha bite a chip,” this cookie product gained popularity all through out America, and the road to fame later spread all throughout the world.  Through the years, Nabisco kept on producing Chips Ahoy varieties like reduced fat, snack packs, peanut butter flavored, chunkier chips, and more.
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Chocolate Price Drop?

Good news.  With the former president of Ivory Coast negotiating an exit strategy with UN authorities, it appears that chocolate prices may be headed down. 

Cacao shipments from Ivory Coast had dropped to near zero after the election conflict in late 2010.  That's a problem since the country supplies about a third of the world's supply.  Because of the reduced supply, prices have been on pretty much a constant increase.

Now that a surrender is being negotiated, cocoa futures prices dropped immediately to the lowest point in the last three months.  This is based on the speculation that the 350,000 tons of cacao held in Ivory Coast port warehouses would be released while the European Union removes its trade embargo. 
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THE Chocolate Room

Check out this fascinating chocolate sanctuary.  Yes, it's an actual room with walls, furniture, and home décor all made out of chocolate. 

Heaven?  No. Vilnius, Lithuania...

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World’s Greatest Chocolate Museums

Some museums may have an exhibit or a small display about chocolate but there are a few museums around the globe that are dedicated exclusively to chocolate.  I wish my state had a chocolate museum, but alas, we have the Mustard Museum!
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Valentines Day Chocolate Car?

Bryn was feeling a little pinched for time so I decided to jump in and post something interesting for today.

Friday is typically a "chocolate in the news" day so I spent a little time scouring the internet for chocolate stories that would be worth repeating.

In the past, Bryn has made several posts about large chocolate sculptures.  Well, today's feature only looks like chocolate, you can't really eat it.  I'm sure you wouldn't want to.  But it is still chocolate art!
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White Chocolate Sculpture

I’m absolutely fascinated by sculptures crafted in chocolate.  Perhaps it is because I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.  I do, however, have a deep admiration for those that do.

I have had several blog posts in the past showing off many chocolatiers’ incredible artistic skills.

Most, if not all, of those were carved from milk or semi-sweet chocolate.

Recently, one of Italy's well known chocolatiers, Mirco Della Vecchia, formed his creation from white chocolate.

His project was to sculpt and display famous tourist destinations from around the world.
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Global Confectioneries Market

According to industry analysts as reported on www.prweb.com, the global confectioneries market could reach $186.3 Billion US dollars by 2015.

The confectionery products category contains market data for chocolate, candy, and gum.  The emerging confectionery markets are China, India, Indonesia, and the Middle East.  

In the future, analysts say that the global confectionery market will be looking for growth in areas of sugarless, low fat and functional confectionery.  It is assumed that the consumption of dark chocolate will continue to increase due to the interest in health benefits of dark chocolate.
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Two Presidents of Ivory Coast

The chocolate industries of the world have been watching the elections in Ivory Coast, Africa very closely.  And the results are making some people nervous.

On December 4, 2010, both the incumbent and the challenger took the oath of office as president.

Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, was declared the winner by the Constitutional Council after rejecting the Electoral Commission’s vote count from the November 28 election.  Gbagbo’s opponent, Alassane Ouattara, allegedly won the vote on that day but is accused of rigging the results in the northern states.
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