We went to Belgium last summer and Belgium is famous for many things. Actually it isn't but one thing it is renown for is chocolate and as Belgium is full of shops selling the stuff, we brought a backpack full of the brown wonder as souvenirs for family and friends, not that they saw much of it as most was consumed on the ferry back.
Belgium hasn't got much going for it and it may not have the chocolate for much longer because apparently the world is facing a chocolate shortage.
The majority of the world's cocoa supply comes from West Africa and the average West African farmer has worked out that for the small amount he makes from cocoa trees, he can make more growing palm oil which is increasingly in demand for biofuels.
Tending to cocoa trees is immensely time-consuming, taking up to five years to grow a new crop and that satisfying feeling that his product is contributing to our type 2 diabetes is just not enough anymore.
As new markets open up in Asia for chocolate, the chairman of the Cocoa Research Association has said: 'Chocolate consumption is increasing faster than cocoa production and it's not sustainable. These smallholders earn just 80 cents a day so there is no incentive to replant trees when they die off, and to wait up to five years for a new crop'.
Poor Belgium, it will just have to fall back on it's other famous exports, Tin Tin and Jean Claude Van Damme.
Actually, on second thoughts, you may want to concentrate more on Tin Tin.
4 comments:
I mainly associate Belgium with fantastic beer like Chimay, Westmalle, Kasteel and Corsendonk. That's not just me is it?
As far as chocolate goes, this is good news for Hershey's isn't it? If I'm any judge of the taste, I'd guess that they don't use any cocoa at all, just sugar!
It would make my intro and outro redundant if i hadn't forgotten about the Belgian beer so yes, it's just you!!
I don't know if it is just me being used to Cadbury's and our chocolate but other places chocolate just doesn't taste right.
I don't even like chocolate that much, but even I must admit that Cadbury's milk chocoate is superb. I went to a comedy club the other week and saw Rich Hall, and he was rhapsodising (amsuingly) over it.
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