A Universal Truth of Travel is that everyone, everywhere, loves Chocolate
While visiting numerous countries in every corner of the globe, you can't help but notice that one food custom is common to all peoples - the love of chocolate. This is a flavor that transcends culture and diet and eating habits and frankly, it is something that most human beings find irresistible.
Let's take those questions one at at time - Answering the first question is a challenge. Where does chocolate come from?
Okay, does that mean - where is it made? ... or where is it grown?
These are two very different things. Let's start with where is it grown. That's a fairly short list.
Here are the top five countries that grow cocoa, from which chocolate is made -
1. Ivory Coast
2. Indonesia
3. Ghana
4. Nigeria
5. Cameroon
These five countries listed account for almost 80% of the entire worldwide cocoa bean harvest.
Four out of the five are in West Africa, and Ivory Coast is the major player in the world, with over a third of global cocoa production - they are the Saudi Arabia of cocoa/chocolate!
Interesting note for geography aficionados: Ivory Coast is the English translation of the official name for the country which is Cote d'Ivoire (French).
Another interesting note: Cocoa was "discovered" in South American and was grown by the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans. These people groups ... don't appear on the list above.
Do these same countries that grow cocoa beans convert it to chocolate? A resounding "NO" would be the correct answer. Chocolate is essentially made in northern climates because it is very temperature sensitive.
Okay, ... pray tell, who makes "chocolate" as we know it? This shows which countries manufacture chocolate products.
1. United States
2. Germany
3. Switzerland
4. Belgium
5. Japan or Italy (depending on who's list you use)
Interesting note: I was somewhat surprised to be eating M&M's in Cape Town, South Africa and noticed they were made in the USA.
Chocolate melts easily and is not viable to make in the warm tropical climates where the cocoa beans are grown. Plus, there is a lot of milk used in the process and you need a bunch of cows and dairies to produce chocolate.
.jpg)
So - Why is it so popular? And who eats the most chocolate?
Here are the Top countries based on per capita chocolate consumption:
Switzerland
Ireland
UK
Austria
Belgium
Germany
Norway
Denmark
Canada
France
Poland
Russia
Australia
Good old America eats a lot of chocolate, but we also have a lot of people. When it comes to the average annual chocolate devoured by the average citizen, we can't hold a candy bar to Switzerland (the Gold Metal winners) or even Russia for that matter. C'mon America - we are a competitive country - eat more chocolate! Tiny Switzerland eats more than twice as much chocolate per capita as the US!
Hey, didn't they just publish an article stating that Swiss people are the happiest in the world?
Must be from eating all that chocolate!
.jpg)
Well, this gets a little more complicated. There is a whole bunch of psychological and emotional analysis that goes into this, that would frankly would exceed the limits of this blog. For example, one medical source explains that chocolate contains opiate like substances, which makes us feel good. In other words, we get high when we eat chocolate ... hey, I'm just sayin' ...
The simple answer to why we like chocolate is that it tastes so good, and has a wonderful texture, and really hits the spot if you have a craving, and contains antioxidants, and so on. The worldwide chocolate business is estimated at 98 billion dollars!
The world is a complicated place. Cocoa/Chocolate was discovered in Peru, grows in tropical West Africa, is manufactured in cold places, and is eaten by mostly Europeans who get high while consuming this wonderful concoction.
How's that for a simple summary? Ha!
Wherever you go ... there is chocolate.
Where does it come from? And why is it so popular?
Let's take those questions one at at time - Answering the first question is a challenge. Where does chocolate come from?
Okay, does that mean - where is it made? ... or where is it grown?
These are two very different things. Let's start with where is it grown. That's a fairly short list.
Here are the top five countries that grow cocoa, from which chocolate is made -
1. Ivory Coast
2. Indonesia
3. Ghana
4. Nigeria
5. Cameroon
These five countries listed account for almost 80% of the entire worldwide cocoa bean harvest.
Four out of the five are in West Africa, and Ivory Coast is the major player in the world, with over a third of global cocoa production - they are the Saudi Arabia of cocoa/chocolate!
Interesting note for geography aficionados: Ivory Coast is the English translation of the official name for the country which is Cote d'Ivoire (French).
Another interesting note: Cocoa was "discovered" in South American and was grown by the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans. These people groups ... don't appear on the list above.
Okay, so where do they make chocolate?
Do these same countries that grow cocoa beans convert it to chocolate? A resounding "NO" would be the correct answer. Chocolate is essentially made in northern climates because it is very temperature sensitive.
Okay, ... pray tell, who makes "chocolate" as we know it? This shows which countries manufacture chocolate products.
1. United States
2. Germany
3. Switzerland
4. Belgium
5. Japan or Italy (depending on who's list you use)
Interesting note: I was somewhat surprised to be eating M&M's in Cape Town, South Africa and noticed they were made in the USA.
Chocolate melts easily and is not viable to make in the warm tropical climates where the cocoa beans are grown. Plus, there is a lot of milk used in the process and you need a bunch of cows and dairies to produce chocolate.
.jpg)
So - Why is it so popular? And who eats the most chocolate?
Here are the Top countries based on per capita chocolate consumption:
Switzerland
Ireland
UK
Austria
Belgium
Germany
Norway
Denmark
Canada
France
Poland
Russia
Australia
Good old America eats a lot of chocolate, but we also have a lot of people. When it comes to the average annual chocolate devoured by the average citizen, we can't hold a candy bar to Switzerland (the Gold Metal winners) or even Russia for that matter. C'mon America - we are a competitive country - eat more chocolate! Tiny Switzerland eats more than twice as much chocolate per capita as the US!
Hey, didn't they just publish an article stating that Swiss people are the happiest in the world?
Must be from eating all that chocolate!
.jpg)
Why is it so popular? Why does everyone love chocolate?
Well, this gets a little more complicated. There is a whole bunch of psychological and emotional analysis that goes into this, that would frankly would exceed the limits of this blog. For example, one medical source explains that chocolate contains opiate like substances, which makes us feel good. In other words, we get high when we eat chocolate ... hey, I'm just sayin' ...
The simple answer to why we like chocolate is that it tastes so good, and has a wonderful texture, and really hits the spot if you have a craving, and contains antioxidants, and so on. The worldwide chocolate business is estimated at 98 billion dollars!
So where on Earth did that chocolate come from?
All over the globe!
The world is a complicated place. Cocoa/Chocolate was discovered in Peru, grows in tropical West Africa, is manufactured in cold places, and is eaten by mostly Europeans who get high while consuming this wonderful concoction.
How's that for a simple summary? Ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment