For those of you who don't know yet, behind one of our favorite foods in the world is a $ 103 billion Industry. Despite its popularity, we guess there are still some facts you might be surprised to hear about.
- It takes about 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate - on average, each cocoa tree produces enough fruit each year to make up to 3 pounds of chocolate - cocoa trees yield an average of 20 to 30 pods a year, and each pod contains 20 to 40 cocoa beans. This means that each cocoa tree produces anywhere from 400 to 1,200 cocoa beans each year. Because it takes about 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate, it is equivalent to 3 pounds of chocolate.
- Switzerland is the largest consumer of chocolate in the world - it consumes 8.8 kilos of chocolate per person! And while Americans consume an impressive amount of chocolate (especially on holidays like Halloween, Easter and Valentine's Day), the world's top consumers of favorite candy are in Europe, with Switzerland topping the list, followed by Germany with about 8 pounds of chocolate per capita, Ireland with about 7.8 kilos, the UK with 7.5 kilos and Sweden with 6.6 kilos of chocolate per capita.
- It is estimated that global cocoa production peaked in 2019 at 4.85 million tons of cocoa, the peak being attributed, among other things, to favorable weather conditions. Moreover, Ivory Coast continues to be the world’s largest producer of cocoa, with an estimate of 2.12 million tons. Increased production is not necessarily good news for the chocolate industry as it will most likely not be met with increased demand for the product and therefore world low prices will be maintained.