Chocolate Consumption Statistics

UPDATE: You can read more recent information based on the 2012 report here.

The most recent reliable data I found on chocolate consumption were from the ICCO (International Cocoa Organization), CAOBISCO (European Union Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries) and the ICA (International Confectionery Association).

A 2010 report on The World Cocoa Economy was particularly interesting, and has a lot of great information on the volatility of cocoa supply and demand.

Here's a summary of the 2008 annual per-capita consumption of chocolate in several nations around the world, in terms of kilograms per year, pounds per year, and 100 gram chocolate bars per year. Of course, this data includes chocolate consumption in any form; I'm just using 100 gram bars per year as an interesting equivalent.

country	kg/year	lb/year	equivalent 100g bars/year
Germany	11.4	25.1	114
Switzerland	10.8	23.7	108
United Kingdom	10.3	22.7	103
Norway	9.8	21.6	98
Denmark	8.6	18.9	86
Austria	7.9	17.4	79
Estonia	7.9	17.3	79
France	7.4	16.3	74
Finland	7.0	15.4	70
Belgium	6.8	15.0	68
Sweden	6.6	14.5	66
Lithuania	6.1	13.4	61
Australia	6.0	13.1	60
United States	5.1	11.2	51
Poland	4.5	10.0	45
Greece	4.5	9.9	45
Portugal	4.5	9.8	45
Hungary	3.5	7.7	35
Spain	3.3	7.3	33
Italy	3.3	7.2	33
Brazil	2.5	5.5	25
Bulgaria	2.2	4.9	22
Japan	2.2	4.7	22

Review: Rogue Rio Caribe

Lindy's Rating: 7.5 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 7.5 (previously ***)

chocolate maker Rogue bar Rio Caribe region Venezuela plantation (unnamed) cacao trees Trinitario year (unknown) size 60g ~ 2.1oz cocoa solids 70% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $6.99

color medium brown PANTONE 19-1217 Mustang texture smooth aroma floral, roast snap hard taste roast (coffee), fruit (orange), nut, sweet melt more smooth length short finish slightly ashy

Rogue Chocolatier currently makes four chocolate bars. We've previously reviewed the other three, all of which were so good that they made it onto either Lindy's or my favorite list. With this review, we will have tasted Rogue's entire line of chocolates.

Rio Caribe is made from Trinitario cacao trees in the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela (near Trinidad). According to the information on Rogue's website, this bar is made from the cacao beans of a single plantation, though it is not named.

As with all of the Rogue bars, this one had a simple presentation: a plain slab of smooth-textured chocolate without imprints or scoring. However, unlike the others, Rio Caribe includes tahitian vanilla among its ingredients (Rogue's other bars had no flavoring whatsoever).

This chocolate's color was a medium brown Mustang (PANTONE 19-1217). The bar had a hard snap. The aroma was somewhat weak, but included clear floral and roast scents. The taste of Rio Caribe was initially a coffee roast, which transitioned to include something nutty and then also a fruity orange. I also tasted sweetness.

The melt was smoother than average. The duration of the flavor after the chocolate was gone was 10 to 15 seconds, for a short length. The final aftertaste was slightly ashy, but not bitter.

Lindy and I both rated this bar *** due to its nice melt and taste, but it was on the low end of that rating and not as good as Rogue's other excellent chocolates.

Rogue Sambirano won award and free shipping on $20 purchase

Rogue Chocolatier's Sambirano chocolate bar was among the winners in the chocolate category at the 2011 Good Food Awards.

In celebration, Rogue is offering free shipping on online orders of $20 or more for the rest of January. Free shipping is normally only available for orders of $40 or more. The $10 shipping charge is automatically removed once your order reaches $20.

This is a great opportunity to purchase small quantities of Rogue's excellent chocolate bars. We highly recommend the Hispaniola, Piura, and Sambirano bars, and you can find them among the bars we like best (Richard's Favorites and Lindy's Favorites). The fourth bar made by Rogue, the Rio Caribe is also good, but we felt it was not in the same category as the other three. I'll post a review of Rio Caribe tomorrow. You can read our reviews of each of Rogue's chocolate bars here or by clicking on Rogue in the Labels section.

Unfortunately, they are presently out of stock of the Piura bar (you'll get a message in your shopping cart in the top left if you try to add it). Buying one of each of Rogue's other three bars totals $20.97, which qualifies for free shipping, so you may want to try all three.

Follow this link directly to Rogue's product page to shop online: http://www.roguechocolatier.com/products-page/

Review: Newman's Own Super Dark

Lindy's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Newman's Own bar 70% region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 92g ~ 3.3oz cocoa solids 70% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane juice emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with circled N imprints and scoring aroma roast (smoky), sweet (molasses) snap hard taste sweet, roast (tannin), fruit (orange), nutty melt more smooth length medium finish slightly acidic

Newman's Own Organics produces six chocolate bars in their Signature Series. All of them have both the USDA organic and Rainforest Alliance certification. The darkest of them is this Super Dark bar, with 70% cocoa solids.

The Super Dark bar was scored into 8 large pieces, each with an imprint of a "N" circumscribed by a circle. This chocolate had a medium-dark brown color like that of Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). Its snap was hard.

The aroma was roast and sweet. Lindy found the roast scent to be smoky. The sweet aroma reminded me of molasses. The taste also contained roast and sweet. However, rather than smoky, the roast flavor was more of a tannin. We did not identify a more specific flavor for the sweetness. There was also the flavor of fruit, a citrus that we experienced as orange or perhaps tangerine. Finally, Lindy also noticed some nuttiness.

The melt and length were great, and the finish had no bitterness. The melt was more smooth and the flavor lasted 25 to 30 seconds: a medium length. There wasn't much aftertaste, only a slight acidity.

We both rated Super Dark a high **. I purchased this bar at our local QFC grocery store for $3.59. At that price, this bar is not expensive and definitely worth trying. You can compare the relative value of this chocolate on our Best Chocolate Values page (permanent link in the right column in the pages section).

Review: Kallari 85%

Lindy's Rating: 4.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 4.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Kallari bar 85% region Ecuador plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 70g ~ 2.5oz cocoa solids 85% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $5.95

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1217 Mustang texture smooth with leaf imprints and scoring aroma roast(coffee, smoky), sweet (brown sugar), earthy (grass), hint of floral snap medium hard taste fruit (berry, watermelon), bitter, sweet, burnt toast melt smooth length short finish slightly bitter

MORE RECENT REVIEW: Kallari 85% Cacao

From the back of the wrapper: "We are KALLARI, a cooperative of 900 indigenous Kichwa families in the Upper Napo Region of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We plant, care for, and harvest our award-winning heirloom cacao beans to create this single-source organic chocolate. We share 100% of chocolate profits amongst our 21 rainforest communities to maintain our way of life in one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth."

The motto of Kallari chocolate is "sustainable pleasure for palate and planet". Kallari 85% is certified organic by the USDA. It is also certified by the Rainforest Alliance that it was produced in a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable way. Kallari produces three chocolate bars that vary by the amount of cocoa solids: 70%, 75%, and 85%.

Kallari 85% had a medium dark brown color, most closely matching Mustang (PANTONE 19-1217). The surface of this 70 gram bar was smooth and it was scored into 18 pieces, each with an imprint of the leaf logo of Kallari.

The snap was medium hard. This chocolate's aroma was full of roast, primarily coffee and smoky, and a sweet that Lindy identified as brown sugar. I also noticed an earthy grass and occasional hints of a floral scent. Lindy found the smoky aroma very unpleasant.

Fortunately, Kallari 85% did not taste as its aroma might suggest. After an initial bitterness, the primary flavor was a fruit that Lindy thought was some type of berry and I thought might be watermelon. I also found this chocolate to be surprisingly sweet for 85% cocoa solids. There was a flavor of burnt toast.

The melt was smooth. The flavor lasted between 5 and 10 seconds after the chocolate was gone, so the length ended up on minimal side within short. The final aftertaste was slightly bitter and vaguely unpleasant.

Kallari 85% had a profile very different from the two Ecuadorian chocolates we've reviewed from Republica del Cacao. It was different, but not better, and we both rated this bar a low **. So, we'll continue to search for a chocolate bar made from Ecuadorian cacao that we both love. It's too early to know, but it may be that we just don't appreciate the chocolate grown in that region.

You can purchase Kallari chocolate bars online at Chocosphere for $5.95 each.

Review: Republica del Cacao Manabi

Lindy's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Republica del Cacao bar Manabi region Ecuador plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 50g ~ 1.8oz cocoa solids 75% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture smooth with text imprints and scoring aroma fig, mint, spice, hint of earthy snap medium hard taste fig, sweet, prune, hint of date melt smooth length minimal-short finish slightly ashy, slightly acidic

Republica del Cacao is the chocolate maker whose Los Rios bar generated strong reactions in our December blind chocolate tasting. Their Manabi bar is a regional chocolate made from cacao beans of the Manabi province of Ecuador.

This 50 gram Manabi bar had text imprints and was scored into 4 large pieces (as shown above). The color was an interesting dark brown. Under a combination of natural and fluorescent light, it most closely matched Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314) and was the first chocolate we've reviewed to do so.

The aroma of this chocolate was less pronounced that others we've reviewed. Fig was the most noticeable scent, followed by mint, spice, and a hint of earthiness. The snap was medium hard.

Republica's Manabi had a complex dried fruit taste that was predominantly fig, but also contained suggestions of prune, date, and others. There was also a sweet flavor, but neither of us were able to conclusively identify it.

The melt was smooth, and the post-chocolate flavor lasted 5 seconds, right at the border between minimal and short. The finish seemed ashy to Lindy and slightly acidic to me.

Overall, we both liked this bar better than Los Rios, and rated it **.

I've tasted three Ecuador chocolates so far (two of which are reviewed on this blog), and find myself somewhat disappointed. Despite the fame of Ecuador's Arriba cacao, I generally much prefer chocolates from Venezuela and Madagascar. However, we will review other chocolate makers and chocolates from Ecuador and hopefully find an outstanding chocolate from that region. All our reviews of Ecuador chocolates can be found here or by clicking on the Ecuador link under the Labels section in the right column or the end of this post.

Manabi is available online at Chocolopolis for $3.99.

Review: Ghirardelli Midnight Reverie

Lindy's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Ghirardelli bar Midnight Reverie™ region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 90g ~ 3.2oz cocoa solids 86% added fat cocoa butter, milk fat sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients natural flavor list price $3.95

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with text and image imprints, scoring aroma roast (cocoa), hints of smoke and sweet snap medium hard taste roast (smoky, burnt toast), bitter, hint of black cherry melt slow start, less smooth length minimal-short finish somewhat bitter

Midnight Reverie™ is the second chocolate we've reviewed of the three unflavored bars in Ghirardelli's Intense Dark™ line of chocolates. It has 86% cocoa solids and two unusual ingredients: milk fat and "natural flavor". Ghirardelli also made this bar smaller than the other bars in this line, at 90 grams rather than 100. It is scored into 8 pieces (the picture above only shows 4 of them, due to the bar being broken in half).

I probably would have skipped this bar had I noticed the added ingredients before I had purchased it. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the Twilight Delight™, so it's good we were able to review this bar, too.

Midnight Reverie™ had an interesting roast aroma. While primarily that of cocoa, there were also hints of smoke and other roast scents we didn't identify. We also both smelled suggestions of sweetness we didn't expect in a chocolate with such high cocoa content.

Perhaps due to the milk fat and its higher melting point, this bar took several seconds before melting and releasing any flavor. The melt was also less smooth, which was odd given the added fat and an emulsifier. We tasted a dominating roast flavor of both smoke and burnt toast. Lindy also found it bitter and detected a hint of black cherry.

For me the length was minimal, but Lindy tasted the roast flavor a bit longer than 5 seconds, putting it just into the short duration. Both of us found the aftertaste bitter, me slightly and Lindy more so.

Our reviews of all Ghirardelli chocolates can be found here or by clicking on the Ghirardelli link under the Labels section in the right column.

Review: Bonnat Madagascar

Lindy's Rating: 7.0 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 7.0 (previously ***)

chocolate maker Bonnat bar Madagascar region Madagascar plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 75% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with text imprint and scoring aroma floral, fruit (prune), earthy, woody, hint of sweet snap hard taste fruit (cherry, lime, and more), sweet, earthy, hint of tart melt smooth length short finish slightly acidic

As the sticker on the wrapper attests, Bonnat recently celebrated its 125th year. Madagascar is one of Bonnat's regionally named bars (and thus made of cacao beans from Madagascar ;)

Madagascar's medium-dark brown color had a reddish tinge, as is typical for chocolates from that region. The shape and texture of the bar were nearly identical to other Bonnat bars, with a central imprint of Bonnat as the maker and Voiron as the city where Bonnat opened its doors in 1884. The scoring provides breaking points for 32 small pieces and one quadruple-sized one in the center (with the "BONNAT VOIRON" imprint). The best before date on the bar we reviewed was January 2012.

The aroma was floral, fruity, and earthy, with occasional suggestions of sweetness. I thought the earthy fruitiness might be prune and also noticed a woody scent.

The suggestive fruity aroma was revealed to be much more complex as a flavor, with cherry and citrus (that Lindy experienced as lime), as well as some other fruit flavors we weren't able to identify. There was also some sweetness, earthiness, and a hint of tartness.

This chocolate had a fairly normal smooth melt and a short length of about 15 seconds. The finish was slightly acidic, which Lindy found slightly bitter. Both of us rated this bar ***, though it didn't make it into either of our respective favorite lists.

Bonnat does not publish list prices, but you can purchase the Madagascar bar online at Chocolopolis for $9.99.

Review: Endangered Species Extreme Dark

Lindy's Rating: 3.0 (previously *)

Richard's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Endangered Species bar Extreme Dark region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 85g ~ 3.0oz cocoa solids 88% added fat (none) sweetener beet sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $2.99

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture smooth, with branch imprints and scoring aroma roast (cocoa, coffee, smoky), earthy (straw), spice, sweet snap hard taste bitter, roast (burnt, smoke, tea) melt smooth length medium finish bitter

UPDATE: Endangered Species has reformulated this chocolate to use cane sugar rather than beet sugar, and has renamed the bar to Natural Dark Chocolate with 88% Cocoa.

Endangered Species is another chocolate maker doing good in the world. Ten percent of their net profits are donated to organizations dedicated to conserving species or habitat. Created in the Rogue Valley of Oregon in 1993, they have since relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana. The motto of Endangered Species is "Savor chocolate. Save our planet." Some of their chocolates are organic, though Extreme Dark is not. They also have a terrific URL: chocolatebar.com.

At 88% cocoa solids, Extreme Dark has the highest cocoa content of the bars made by Endangered Species. The inside wrapper of each bar of chocolate provides information about a particular endangered species. Extreme Dark informs you about black panthers (including both leopards and jaguars).

Extreme Dark has a medium-dark brown color and is scored into 15 pieces, each with an imprint of what appears to be a stylized sparse tree or branch.

There were several aromas from this chocolate, including roast and straw. The roast was complex, and included cocoa, smoky, and coffee. Lindy also noticed a sweet smell, and I detected some spice.

The taste was less interesting, or at least hidden behind a strong bitterness. Lindy found only a burnt taste. The roast came through for me, including a clear smoky flavor as well as a weak black tea.

The melt felt smooth to me and more smooth to Lindy. The flavor lasted 25 to 35 seconds, giving a medium length. The final aftertaste was bitter.

Lindy rated Extreme Dark * primarily due to its bitterness. I felt it deserved **.

Review: Rogue Sambirano

Lindy's Rating: 9.5 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 9.0 (previously ***)

chocolate maker Rogue bar Sambirano region Madagascar plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 60g ~ 2.1oz cocoa solids 70% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $6.99

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1317 Bitter Chocolate texture smooth aroma raisin, earthy, citrus, sweet, hint of orange snap hard taste citrus (lime, orange), cherry, roast, hint of spice melt smooth length short finish slightly acidic

MORE RECENT REVIEW: Rogue Sambirano

This week Lindy and I tasted our third of the four bars made by independent chocolate maker Rogue. Sambirano was made from Venezuelan cacao trees that were planted in the Sambirano Valley of Madagascar. The best before date on the bar we tasted was December 2011. As with all of the Rogue bars we've reviewed so far, this one was simple with respect to both ingredients and presentation.

Sambirano had a medium dark brown color, smooth surface, and hard snap. The aromas it revealed were earthy (which didn't clarify into anything more specific) and fruity (which was obviously raisin, but also had a scent of citrus that occasionally gave hints of orange). We also noticed a sweetness.

The taste of this chocolate came forth in two distinct stages. The first was a strong citrus suggested by the aroma: a lime with some orange. That flavor transitioned into a lovely cherry for the second stage, in which the lime and orange faded to the background. A second taste confirmed this unusually distinct separation of flavors. We also tasted a roast and a hint of spice.

Lindy felt this chocolate was brittle as one bites it. The melt, however, was smooth. The flavor lasted about 15 to 20 seconds after the chocolate was gone, leaving a slightly acidic finish.

Although disappointed by its length, we both found the flavor profile of this bar interesting enough to make up for that. Sambirano is another excellent chocolate from Rogue. Here's a link to all of our Rogue reviews, or you can just click on the label Rogue in the right column.

Overall, we both rated this bar a solid ***. Lindy placed this chocolate into her top 10 favorite bars (replacing another Rogue bar, the Piura, that she had at #10). I find the Piura to the better of the two (my current #7), and the Sambirano didn't quite break into my favorites, but it was close (my current #10 is still the Cluizel Maralumi 64% that won our blind chocolate tasting in December).

Review: Godiva 72% Dark

Lindy's Rating: 5.5 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 5.5 (previously **)

chocolate maker Godiva bar 72% Dark region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 72% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $3.99

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth, text and image imprints, scoring aroma earthy (musty), roast (smoky), nut (roasted almond), fruit, sweet snap medium hard taste sweet, smoky, hint of coffee, roasted almond melt smooth length short finish somewhat smoky

Godiva is a chocolate maker that began with the opening of a store in the Grande Place in Brussels, Belgium, in 1926, and has grown to become a world-wide seller of quality chocolates. They began selling chocolates in the US in 1966, mostly in the form of filled chocolates. Godiva makes only a few varieties of chocolate bars, and the 72% Dark is their only 100 gram bar of dark chocolate.

From my childhood, I remember my father so visibly appreciating Godiva dark chocolates that giving him a pound box of them every year for his birthday became almost a tradition. It feels essential to include a Godiva chocolate among the artisan chocolates we're reviewing here.

This bar was a medium dark brown and smooth surface with detailed imprinting of their name and an image of Lady Godiva riding naked on her horse. The inspiring legend of Lady Godiva can be found on Godiva's FAQ page. The scoring separated this 100 gram bar into 10 pieces.

The earthy aroma of 72% Dark was musty, but we also quickly noticed a roast that was smoky and a nutty scent that Lindy identified as roasted almond. I also smelled some fruit and sweetness.

The taste was somewhat too sweet, with a smoky flavor and hints of coffee. Lindy again recognized roasted almond. The melt was smooth. The flavor lasted several seconds after the chocolate was gone, leaving a slightly smoky aftertaste that happily was not bitter.

Both of us found this chocolate superior to Lindt Excellence chocolates (our standard ** bars), and only a little more expensive. Please see our best chocolate values page for more detailed price and rating comparisons.

Review: Alter Eco Dark Blackout

Lindy's Rating: 3.0 (previously *)

Richard's Rating: 3.0 (previously *)

chocolate maker Alter Eco™ bar Dark Blackout region (blend) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 85% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $4.39

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth, with lines and scoring aroma earthy (musty), dried fruit (prune), hints of roast and spice snap medium hard taste roast, burnt, hint of sweet, bitter melt smooth length minimal finish somewhat bitter, dry

Alter Eco™ sells several fair trade products, including tea, rice, quinoa, coffee, and sugar, as well as chocolate. Their Dark Blackout chocolate bar has 85% cocoa solids. Although the wrapper front is boldly labeled Bolivia, the cocoa solids come from not only El Ceibo cooperative of Bolivia, but also from Costa Rica. The origin of the other ingredients is also identified in fine print on the back of the wrapper: cocoa butter from Bolivia and the Dominican Republic and cane sugar from Paraguay. This bar contained no emulsifier or flavoring, and was certified as both organic and fair trade.

The color of this 100 gram Dark Blackout was a medium dark brown and the bar was scored into 24 pieces with a lined top as shown in the picture. The snap was a bit softer than typical.

Aromas from this chocolate were primarily earthy and dried fruit. The earthy scent was musty and the dried fruit seemed closest to prune. Lindy found the prune smell noticeably unpleasant. There were also fleeting smells of roast and spice, but we weren't able to further identify them.

The taste was dominated by burnt, which Lindy thought was that of a "cajun" nut. She also found it bitter. I noticed some roast and an underlying sweetness that mostly hid the bitterness from me. We both kept waiting for other flavors to show up, but we ended up disappointed. Ultimately, there wasn't much flavor to this chocolate.

It took a while for the pieces of chocolate to begin to melt, though they did quickly begin to release their flavor. The melt was nicely smooth, and Lindy found it to be nearly in the more smooth category.

The length of flavor after the chocolate was gone was only a few seconds, and we were left with a dry and somewhat bitter aftertaste.

Neither of us liked this bar, and it was definitely overpriced. I paid $4.99 for this bar at our local Safeway grocery (above its list price of $4.39).