The Business of Chocolate

    As Halloween gives way to the winter holiday season, it is a busy time for chocolate retailers, manufacturers, and of course, for all of us who love chocolate. Be sure to look at our guide on Purdy's Chocolate, as well our guides on two of chocolate enthusiasts favourite holidays - Valentine's Day and Halloween.  Passport GMID predicts that Canadian confectionery chocolate sales will expand to C$2.6 billion in 2011, while U.S. sales will reach US$18.1 billion. The global confectionery chocolate market should rise to US$81.4 billion this year with growth expanding to US$88.3 billion by 2014 according to Datamonitor 360.

 Source: Datamonitor 360 "Future Directions in Confectionery"

Recommended Books

Candymaking in Canada : the history and business of Canada's confectionery industry [electronic resource] / David Carr

Chocolate wars : the 150-year rivalry between the world's greatest chocolate makers / Deborah Cadbury

The international cocoa trade / Robin Dand

The emperors of chocolate : inside the secret world of Hershey and Mars / Joel Glenn Brenner

Bitter chocolate : investigating the dark side of the world's most seductive sweet / Carol Off

Chocolate nations : living and dying for cocoa in West Africa / Orla Ryan 

The true history of chocolate / Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe

Chocolate : history, culture, and heritage / edited by Louis Evan Grivetti, Howard-Yana Shapiro

Industrial chocolate manufacture and use [electronic resource] / edited by Steve T. Beckett

Chocolate science and technology [electronic resource] / Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa

Journal Articles

Chocolate Delight / Nic Howell

Sweet Strategy / Jim T Ryan

The Art of medicine: Centuries of Seeking Chocolate's Medicinal Benefits / Philip K Wilson

Chocolate's Health Benefit - Trick or Treat? / Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter

Global Markets, Farmers and the State: Sustaining Profits in the Indonesian Cocoa Sector / Jeff Neilson

Calculating the Cocoa Comeback / Larry Luxner

New thinking in international trade? A case study of The Day Chocolate Company / Bob Doherty

Ethical Supply Chains in the Cocoa, Coffee and Tea Industries / Mick Blowfield

The Role of Media on Consumer Brand Choice A Case Study of Chocolate Industry / Fazlollah Kazemi, Malihe Esmaeili

 Canadian Chocolate Market

Source: Passport GMID "Chocolate Confectionery in Canada"

Nestle Canada Inc. - Private company and subsidiary of Nestle S.A. (Ticker - NESN). For more information search Lexis/Nexis Academic "Get Company Info" and "Corporate Affiliations". D& B Million Dollar Database also has company information (search: Nestle).

Cadbury Adams Canada Inc. - Private company and subsidiary of Kraft Foods Incorporated (Ticker - KFT).  For more information search Lexis/Nexis Academic "Get Company Info" and "Corporate Affiliations". D& B Million Dollar Database also has company information (search: Kraft Canada).

Hershey Canada Inc. - Private company and subsidiary of The Hershey Company (Ticker - HSY). For more information search Lexis/Nexis Academic "Get Company Info" and "Corporate Affiliations". D& B Million Dollar Database also has company information (search: Hershey).

Source: Passport GMID "Chocolate Confectionery in Canada"

 Cocoa and Commodity Trading

"Cocoa is the fundamental ingredient in all things chocolate: milk chocolate, dark choclate, amd cocoa powder, among other things. It is the seed of the cacao tree (theobroma cacao, literally food of the Gods), a tropical understory tree that grows only in wet environments near the equator. The seed pods grow directly from the trunk and branches. It originates from South America, but today is mostly grown in Africa. Cocoa has a rich and storied history. It has been the exclusive delicacy of royalty, it has served as currency, and it has become what it is today  - an everyday treat for people worldwide and an important cash crop for many developing countries."

 Source: Commodity Investing

As stated above cocoa is the origin of all things chocolate, and is traded in commodity markets. Below we have listed some books to provide you with more information on commodity trading:

Commodity investing : maximizing returns through fundamental analysis / Adam Dunsby ... [et al.]

Commodities as investments / prepared and published by CSI [Global Education Inc.]

Diary of a professional commodity trader: lessons from 21 weeks of real trading / Peter Brandt

The new commodity trading guide : breakthrough strategies for capturing market profits / George Kleinman

Commodities demystified [electronic resource] / Scott Frush

International commodity trading : physical and derivative markets / Ephraim Clark, Jean-Baptiste Lesourd, and René Thiéblemont