Manufacturing

Around 30 years ago, most of China’s billion people had never eaten a piece of chocolate. Fast-forward to the 21st century – the Chinese have transformed into raving chocoholics, as the typical consumer now eats the equivalent of around 24 chocolate bars a year.

The International Cocoa Organization says cocoa production is barely keeping up with global demand, as economists predict a chocolate deficit of 1 million tonnes of cocoa beans by 2020. To meet that demand, World Cocoa Foundation analysts estimate a half billion new cocoa trees need to be planted along the coast of West Africa and in Latin America in the next decade.