Black gold: Our love affair with chocolate just got darker

Maybe it was the great Dairy Milk salmonella scare last year, or perhaps it's just the snob factor associated with bringing out the post-dinner slab of Green & Black's. Either way, a 25 per cent jump in dark chocolate sales in the UK pretty much speaks for itself.

As a nation we are turning our backs on the bland taste of milk chocolate, which is often saturated with vegetable oil, and coming over all Belgian or French when it comes to treating ourselves to something sweet. Dark chocolate now dominates counters in many supermarkets and even Woolworths, that arbiter of mass-market tastes, agrees that demand is soaring.

But chocoholics should brace themselves. Fears over a global chocolate shortage have sparked a run on the dark stuff on world cocoa markets that has pushed the price up of cacao beans (used to make cocoa) to their highest level for more than two years.

With the Easter countdown well and truly under way - only 18 days now for all you Lent puritans - the timing of a potential threat to world supplies takes the biscuit. The chocolate biscuit, that is.
The price of cocoa futures, which is how the beans are traded on world commodity markets, has climbed steadily since last November, reviving fears of the cocoa crisis of 2002 that forced major manufacturers such as Nestlé to hike the price of some of its chocolate bars.

Although speculators have been fingered for pushing the price of cocoa higher, British chocolate aficionados must share at least some of the blame for the run on the bean. Soaring demand for dark chocolate in the UK has put a rocket under the global price of cacao beans, compounding the impact of a severe drought in West Africa, which is home to much of the world's cacao bean supplies.

For the first time, dark chocolate bars are outselling their milk siblings in Woolworths. "Two years ago the hot thing in chocolate was white. Now dark is the flavour of the month," according to Trevor Bish-Jones, chief executive of the pick'n'mix retailer that dominates the Easter-egg market.

"Consumers are doing the same thing in chocolate as in the rest of the food market. They are trading up and being more discerning about what they buy," he adds.
Woolies has responded by doubling the number of dark chocolate lines it stocks in its stores: 20 per cent of all its so-called "block chocolate" on its biggest display units are dark chocolate compared with 10 per cent just 12 months ago.

Dig down a bit through Woolworths' sales data and the trends are even more astounding. Green & Black's dark chocolate bars are outselling its milk varieties by a ratio of two to one. And the organic chocolate maker's 70 per cent cocoa egg is one of the retailer's best sellers. "Dark chocolate has definitely become a mass market trend," Bish-Jones confirms.

All of the country's top supermarket chains have added new premium dark chocolate varieties to their own-brand ranges in response to this phenomenon. Sainsbury's, for example, has added a Fairtrade Cocoa Pod, made with dark Fairtrade chocolate from the Ivory Coast, to its Easter eggs ranges.

Supermarkets have also expanded the number of dark chocolate lines they stock, dwarfing their milk chocolate variants in some cases. Asda doesn't even bother with Divine's milk chocolate bars, preferring to stock only the dark versions from the Fairtrade chocolate maker part owned by the Ghanaian co-operative, Kuapa Kokoo, that supplies it.

Of course, it takes more beans to produce a bar of dark chocolate than are needed for a bar of milk - and that's at the root of the problem. Yesterday the cost of cacao beans for delivery in July on the London cocoa exchange shot to £1,028 a tonne on exceptionally heavy trading. This was up £22 on the day and the highest price that the crop has fetched at any point since November 2004. The cost of buying cacao beans was pushed higher by canny investors who have placed record bets that prices will keep rising.

Hedge funds, which make money by punting on whether commodity or share prices will rise or fall, have swallowed up a third of the cocoa contracts traded in New York, the other main cocoa trading centre. So far, industry buyers, such as Cadbury Schweppes, have refrained from joining the frenzy, although traders believe that a jump in prices will prompt them to build up their stocks.

Prices have risen nearly 30 per cent since the beginning of December, largely on growing concern about what farmers in Ivory Coast, the biggest cacao bean producer in west Africa, have dubbed the worst drought in living memory. To make matters worse, demand is outstripping supply as the teeth of consumers in developing markets begin to sweeten. The International Cocoa Organisation predicts a global cocoa shortfall of around 100,000 tonnes this year alone, although private forecasts warn the deficit could be as much as 250,000 tonnes.

Anthony Ward, the world's most notorious chocolate trader (who was dubbed "Chocolate Finger" during the last cocoa price spike for stockpiling the bean), has warned that big manufacturers will have to pay more to get the right beans.
And getting the right beans is becoming crucial in a market that is fast following in the footsteps of wine and coffee in terms of getting consumers to appreciate its effect on the palate.

Mark Palmer, a director of Green & Black's, the organic chocolate pioneer that first hit the shelves in 1991, explains: "People these days are willing to experiment more with food and drink. Rather like wine and coffee, people are realising there are varieties of chocolate available. Dark used to be a niche of a niche, but it's now a foodie way of describing chocolate."

Alan Porter, chairman of the Chocolate Society, which was set up to extol the virtues of eating high-quality sweet treats, adds: "With dark chocolate you are tasting the cocoa, whereas with milk you are tasting the recipe."

There are 450 different flavour elements in a single cacao bean, which itself varies in taste depending on where it is grown. Chocolate from Colombia might seem peppery, while chocolate from Venezuela might smell like vanilla, for example. This is driving demand for an über premium version: the so-called single-estate chocolate bar, which sources its beans from a single location.

Global confectionery giants such as Hershey's, best known for a particularly bland form of chocolate that even the most unsophisticated British chocoholic tends to avoid, are jumping on the bandwagon. Hershey's recently launched a Single Origin collection as part of a major push into the premium chocolate market. Closer to home, Cadbury has launched a "deeply dark" version of its Bournville bar, with twice the cocoa content of its original bar, at 60 per cent.

Cadbury, which saw its milk chocolate sales slip 2.5 per cent last year on the back of that salmonella scare, has also started selling a dark version of its classic Flake bar.

And Nestlé has said that more of its new, dark KitKats are bought by people aged 34 to 45 years old than its classic milk version. There is even a dark version of the ambassador's favourite, Ferrero Rocher - one of 600 new dark-chocolate products that hit the market last year, according to Mintel, the market research agency.
With so many products describing themselves as dark chocolate, it can be hard for the committed milk chocolate-eater even to know where to start when it comes to upping his or her cocoa intake. And it is that cocoa intake that experts believe is fuelling growth in the market.

Scientists are falling over themselves to complete studies showing that moderate consumption of high-quality chocolate can be good for you. Only last week a Harvard professor unveiled research suggesting that a nutrient in cocoa called epicatechin could lower the risks of cancer, strokes, heart disease and diabetes. Dr Norman Hollenberg, of Harvard Medical School, based his findings on a study of the Kuna people of Panama, who are weaned on cocoa and can drink up to 40 cups of the stuff a week.

Separate research at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, late last year found that snacking on dark chocolate decreased the development of potentially fatal blood clots. And other studies have found that dark chocolate has proportionately more antioxidants than other foods that are better known for their health-giving properties, such as red wine, green tea and berries.

Alan Porter keeps chocolate's health-giving properties in perspective. He says: "Health has played a role, but more as a justification for consumption than anything else." He thinks dark chocolate's big selling point is that it doesn't trap the chocoholic in the same downward sugar-craving spiral as milk chocolate versions. Parents should bear this in mind when they go shopping for their children's Easter treats, he thinks.

"We have to wean our children off their craving for sugar. If you give children who don't generally like dark chocolate some quality chocolate then, speaking from experience, you generally find that you can quite often get them to say, 'Oh, that's nice.' The secret is the quality and to give them a little rather than a lot.
"Easter egg hunts should be with lots of tiny, high-quality eggs of 55 per cent cocoa content and above. Plus, if it's small, they're not putting a massive gob-full in," says Porter.

A new breed of fashionable diets, from the GI (glycaemic index) diet to the South Beach version, has also helped to promote the cause of dark chocolate. Most dieticians agree that a little of what you fancy does you more good than outright denial - the Montaignac diet goes even further and recommends snacking on the odd square or two of dark chocolate which, helpfully, has a low GI count because of its high fat content.

Sophi Tranchell, managing director of Divine Chocolate, thinks that more people are eating dark chocolate because "the products have got better". The challenge with higher cocoa variants is to get the right trade-off between the percentage of bitter-tasting cocoa, which is where all the good micronutrients come from, and sugar.

"In the past, dark chocolate was bitter and reasonably gritty tasting," Tranchell says. Divine got round that by using a "quite gentle-tasting cocoa bean which, if you're new to dark chocolate, doesn't scare you off".
Green & Black's head of taste, Micah Carr-Hill, says that adding a hint of vanilla was the secret to making its darkest-ever chocolate bar which, at 85 per cent cocoa, has just gone on sale in Sainbury's. "Vanilla acts as a seasoning to soften the bitter notes of the cocoa and to bring out the sweetness," he says.

Although the world cacao price is linked to much more than just a maturing British palate, industry experts agree that soaring demand for high cocoa versions will only increase pressure on those already tight supplies. "The more dark chocolate that is sold, the greater the amount of cacao beans required to make all the new varieties," according to Green & Black's Mark Palmer.

That is pretty good news for cacao bean producers, who are clustered in countries around the Equator. Tim Rice, trade policy offer at ActionAid, says: "If the trend to dark chocolate increases global demand for cocoa beans enough to push up prices, that would be a good thing for producers." (Although he would also like to see developing countries export more value-added products.) It would also help the world's environment, which benefits from bumper cacao crops because the plant only grows under the canopy of rainforests.

It remains to be seen whether cacao prices will hit the highs last seen five years ago. Either way, Easter provides a useful opportunity for devotees to stockpile. After all, as Carr-Hill says: "Because dark chocolate is very intense in flavour, you only need one or two squares to feel satisfied." And he should know. By Susie Mesure

Dark Chocolates and Their Uses

There have been numerous questions as regards the dark chocolates and their health benefits. Scientists from the time of their invention have been doing researches to find out whether dark chocolates are really beneficial for the human body or not. There are numerous health benefits of dark chocolates. They are the following:

Dark chocolate contains a substance called flavonoids which has a number of benefits. Dark chocolates are regarded as antioxidants. Most diseases are caused by oxidation of the cells of the body. When the cellular oxidation reaches a certain level, then various kinds of diseases occur in the body. In order to prevent cellular oxidation, it is important to take a lot of green tea as well as dark chocolates. Green tea and chocolates also possess an anti ageing property.

The function of the chocolates is to capture the free radicals which are harmful to the body. Some of the dark chocolates have more anti oxidizing property than others. This is because of the flavonoid content of dark chocolate. Some chocolates contain 70% flavonoid while some contains 75%, 80% or even 90%. Truly speaking there is no dark chocolate which contains 100% flavonoid.

Another important function of the dark chocolate is to reduce the blood pressure. This is possible because of high content of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is considered to have hormonal effect and reduces blood pressure. If the hormonal balance is maintained the blood pressure remains normal. This is the reason why dark chocolates, when consumed by people with chronic heart disease and other pulmonary problems give some relief.

Dark chocolates are considered to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol as much as ten percent. They stimulate the production of endorphins and serotonin. Dark chocolates contain caffeine, theobromine and other stimulants, and have a good taste as well.

It is also important to note that dark chocolate is a fairly fatty food. About one third of the fats in chocolate are monounsaturated, and two thirds are saturated. This means the fats are able to affect your cholesterol levels. Moreover there is also a high sugar content in the chocolate. Thus there is a high possibility to gain weight on too much consumption of chocolates. It is said according to research result that three and a half ounces of dark chocolate can be taken each day to enjoy its benefits. This comes to an intake of about four hundred calories, similar to having two small doughnuts. By Garret Lloyd

Why Chocolate for Valentine's Day?

Valentine’s Day is many things to different people- a chance to start new relationships, rekindle old ones, or remind that special someone how wonderful they really are. Others feel it is just another “Hallmark” holiday where they are expected to do something for unknown reasons. Regardless of your hopes, expectations, or reservations about Valentine’s Day, chocolate has long been a favorite gift for lovers.

Since the days of the Aztecs chocolate has been used as a gift. Today a box of luxurious quality chocolate says a thousand “thank you’s”, “good luck”, or “I love you”. Chocolate can be given as a way of saying “congratulations”, “I am sorry” or “get well soon”. On Valentine’s Day chocolate clearly says “I LOVE YOU!” Chocolate is more than food, it not only fills your belly but also makes you feel soooo good. Elaine Sherman wrote “Chocolate is heavenly, mellow, sensual, deep, dark, sumptuous, gratifying, potent, dense, creamy, seductive, suggestive, rich, excessive, silky, smooth, luxurious, celestial. Chocolate is downfall, happiness, pleasure, love, ecstasy, fantasy … chocolate makes us wicked, guilty, sinful, healthy, chic, happy.” What more could you want to say to your lover on Valentines Day? Even the scientific name for the tree from which chocolate is derived, Theobroma cacao, translated from Greek, means “food of the gods”.

Why does chocolate evoke so many feelings and emotions for us? Chocolate has long been associated with passion, romance and love. This association may go all the way back to the Aztecs. They believed chocolate was a source of spiritual wisdom, incredible energy and elevated sexual power. Chocolate was widely used as a nuptial aid and was widely served at wedding ceremonies. The Aztecs did not know chocolate as we do today; they consumed the cocoa as a drink. Reports indicate that the Emperor Montezuma consumed large quantities of the drink every day and always fortified himself with a cup before entertaining his harem. The explorer Cortes reported to Carlos I of Spain that chocolate is “… the divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink enables a man to walk for a whole day without food.” From the earliest times, chocolate was considered a substance of power and a source of vitality.

Chocolate has been a subject of study since the first shipment from Veracruz arrived in Spain in 1585. But modern science has made some interesting findings that may help explain our lust for quality chocolate. Chocolate contains organic substances known as alkaloids. The most important of these substances is theobromine, which works as a stimulant to the kidneys. Stimulants in chocolate also affect the central nervous system, with effects similar to caffeine, which is also present in chocolate. A chocolate bar may contain as much as 200 mg of theobromine but only about 25 mg of caffeine. Another important substance found in chocolate is phenylethylamine, which is part of a group of chemicals known as endorphins. Endorphins have an effect similar to amphetamine and are found naturally in the human body. When endorphins are released into the bloodstream, the mood is lifted and feelings of positive energy are reached. The sensation known as “runners high” is caused by endorphins released during exercise. Phenylethylamine levels in the brain have also been linked to “falling in love”. One more chemical found in chocolate is seratonin. Seratonin is known for its calming properties. The presence of these chemicals may explain the multitude of feelings chocolate evokes.

Debra Waterhouse, author of Why Women Need Chocolate, conducted a survey and found: 97% of women reported cravings, 68% of which are for chocolate, 50% would choose chocolate over sex, and 22% were more likely than men to choose chocolate as a mood elevator. These findings could easily be interpreted as a result of how chocolate makes us feel. I don’t know why more women choose chocolate than men, for I am a man and I love chocolate.

Critics would say that the benefits of eating chocolate are small when compared to the sugar and fat contained in a chocolate bar. The best chocolate, dark chocolate with high cacao butter content has no added fat, as well as a high percentage of cacao solids and correspondingly less sugar. Although chocolate will never be considered a health food based on its nutritional value, it is still good for you! Good for your heart and soul-anything that helps relieve stress and makes you feel so good must be.

Receiving a nicely wrapped box of chocolates causes a sense of anticipation. The pleasure of unwrapping the box, the sensual smell, lifting the soft seductive papers, the look of the smooth dark chocolates. When it finally passes your lips and starts to instantly melt filling your mouth with exquisite pleasure. The taste and smell flood your senses with overwhelming ecstasy. Eating it slowly, taking time to enjoy and savor every bit. What better way to start off an evening of love? By David Eisen

Dark chocolate may fight off heart attacks

BOSTON (February 17, 2002 9:04 a.m. EST) - There's more evidence that cocoa rich in cholesterol-battling antioxidants helps ward off some of the factors associated with heart attacks and stroke, scientists lecturing here Friday during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science said.

The antioxidants in chocolate are called flavonoids, potent plant compounds also found in tea, red wine and some fruits and vegetables. Studies show that flavonoids slow the processing of "bad" LDL cholesterol into material that clogs the arteries, and at the same time make blood platelets less likely to clump and cause clots.

"What we're finding, though, is that all flavenoids are not created equal. There are some foods that are richer in them, and seem to be more biologically active, and cocoa is right up there," said Carl Keen, chairman of the nutrition department at the University of California-Davis.
Keen compared the reactions of platelets to a flavanol-rich cocoa drink and a blood-thinning, 81-milligram dose of aspirin, and found similar reactions in a group of 20- to 40-year-olds.
"What we don't know is just what the dose-effect of this might be over a longer period of time," Keen said. "We have some research that shows eating foods high in flavanols is good for the arteries, but we don't yet know what the minimum amount is you can consume to have the effect you want, or what happens if you consume at these levels for weeks or months."

Another chocolate researcher, Dr. Norman Hollenberg of Brigham and Women's Hospital here, reported findings that flavanols may be associated with controlling another chemical that regulates the arteries, nitric oxide.

The compound is critical for healthy blood flow and pressure, Hollenberg said. "If our research results continue to support a link between consumption of flavanol-rich cocoa and nitric oxide synthesis, there could be significant implications for public health."
Both Keen and Hollenberg used a special experimental cocoa supplied by the Mars candy company that is not yet available to the public.

Dark chocolate, which is typically a bit more expensive and not quite as sweet, is richest in flavonoids because of the way it's processed. Milk chocolate, which also has added butterfat, contains fewer flavonoids, while cocoa powder and chocolate syrups are currently processed with a method that removes most of the flavonoids.

As far as the fat in dark chocolate goes, it's mostly a saturated vegetable fat that behaves in an artery-friendly way, like olive and canola oils. Hollenberg began studying the effects of cocoa as part of a high blood pressure study on members of the Kuna tribe of Panama. He noted that members of the tribe who lived on the isolated islands almost never developed hypertension as they aged, while those who moved to urban Panama City did develop age-related high blood pressure. His team learned that in their homelands, the Kuna consume large amounts of cocoa.
And it was observed that the island-dwelling Kuna had significantly higher levels of nitrite-nitrate in their blood, which helps keep pressure down.

Back in Boston, people in a study group have nitric oxide numbers pretty much like those seen in the urban-dwelling Kuna. Hollenberg's team tried having them consume either high-flavanol or low-flavanol cocoa, and saw a significant response in the nitric oxide flow over a short time.
Now the scientists are preparing for a more specific study of the active ingredient of the compounds to conclusively determine if regulating nitric oxide with flavanols has a positive impact.

Keen noted that while early studies of flavanols showed they were beneficial, "it's only been in the last few years that we've been able to isolate some of the active components of flavanols and do the biochemistry that's needed to understand the mechanisms.
"Of course, it's still possible that flavanols are greater than the sum of their parts, and that they work well in the blood precisely because they are together," Keen said.
By LEE BOWMAN

history (1)

Year 600 - Using The Bean

Fourteen centuries before luxury chocolates was introduced to the market, the cocoa bean is considered the ultimate status symbol in the Mayan and Aztec cultures. They use the beans as currency and those wealthy enough to have an excess of beans use them to make a chocolate drink that gives them "wisdom and power."

Year 1502 - Money Grows On Trees

Columbus is the first European to discover cocoa beans and chocolate. But it is the Conquistadors that realize the value of "money that grows on trees." Hernando de Oviedo y Valdez writes home to tell of how he was able to purchase a slave for 100 cocoa beans. Later Hernando Cortez builds a cocoa plantation for the express purpose of growing money in the name of Spain.

Year 1519 - Falling In Love

Cortez soon discovers that Emperor Montezuma, who no doubt possesses more cocoa beans than anybody else at the time, is a "chocoholic." Montezuma, it is reported, drinks nothing but chocolate, particularly before entering his harem. He believes that the concoction is a powerful aphrodisiac. (It turns out that chocolate contains a natural substance that is reputed to stimulate the same reaction in the body as falling in love.) by. pralino.com