8 FUTURE OF CHOCOLATE Chocolate in Modern Times: Expansion of Consumption and New Social Identity
Chocolate in Modern Times: Expansion of Consumption and New Social Identity
Chocolate evolved from a drink to a food due to the technological revolution. Mass production made chocolate available to all levels of society. Globalization made it a global commodity for many nations instead of just one continent. What is in the future for chocolate?
The Future of chocolate. What is it? What can be different? What will be different? How could chocolate possibly be any different?
Possibilities of the future for chocolate may concern cacao growing practices, sustainability, consumer knowledge of where their chocolate comes from, erasing child labor, erasing near-slave labor, reforestation, fair trade practices, and collectives and small farms showing narratives of the people that work there.
The concept of fair trade is already functioning, but not as widely as it could be. Fair Trade assures the producer of a level price for their cacao when they go to sell it, so they can have a level income and fair practices in their dealings with buyers. However, Fair Trade practices can also make income lower, since prices are regulated. There may be alternatives such as Alternative Trading Organizations (Lecture 8)
“Fair trade practices and sustainability are connecting consumers with producers in a more direct way, eliminating the barriers that existed between both groups and perhaps leading to a more socially just and equitable industry. Consumer awareness is deeply connected with consumer rights.” (Lecture 8)
Consumer rights are very important. Consumers do not like to be price-gouged or treated unfairly. An example is the price of a candy bar was raised after World War II from five cents to eight cents, and the children went on strike (likely urged by adults) and it turned into a national frenzy that lasted for some time. Consumers must be fairly treated because they are the consumer. If they are treated badly, they will go away. Consumers also have a right to information to help in their decision processes. Without publicly provided information, consumers are in the dark about products.
“The concept of consumer rights in chocolate consumption is not new. The 5 cent strike which took place in Canada in 1947 served as a harbinger of new consumption attitudes. WWII was over but as the country reverted to a peacetime economy the price freeze set during the war was lifted…” (Lecture 8)
Deforestation is an issue. Declining forests in the world can cause environmental issues. It is well known that when clear-cutting happens by farmers wanting to clear the land for farm land, it affects the environment. Cacao cultivation is part of the problem. Trees need to be planted in a certain way so that they shade the cacao trees. So cutting down other trees and forests to sustain this pattern is not good for the environment. It is amazing how much forest is lost due to farming, and given that there are millions of small farmers growing cacao, it really adds up.
“ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. —Mars Inc., maker of M&M's, Milky Way and other stalwarts of the nation's Halloween candy bag, vowed in 2009 to switch entirely to sustainable cocoa to combat deforestation, a major contributor to climate change…By one estimate, the loss of tropical rainforests last year sped up more in Ghana and Ivory Coast than anywhere else in the world. "Anytime someone bites on a chocolate bar in the United States, a tree is being cut down," said Eric Agnero,... "If we continue like that, in two, three, four years there will be no more forests." Worldwide, the pace of deforestation is alarming. In 2017, 40 football fields of tropical forests were lost every minute, spurred by growing demand not only for cocoa, but also for palm oil, soybeans, timber, beef and rubber.” (Washington Post)
The global footprint of cacao groves is huge. In a diagram in our lesson 8, it shows that the use of land for growing cacao trees in the world is 0.7 percent, which is astonishing. Of the Ivory Coast, twenty-five percent of the country is covered with cacao farms. In Ecuador, it’s fifteen percent. (Lesson 8) Cacao is an amazing product that has literally taken over the world because people want it very much.
The Future of chocolate. Many things may be different in the future, but people need to work on new practices so that they actually do come true, and that takes a lot of effort.
The possibilities of the future of cacao growing practices are here already - it’s just more needs to be implemented. Sustainability, consumer knowledge of where their chocolate comes from, erasing child labor, erasing near-slave labor, reforestation, fair trade practices, and collectives and small farms showing narratives of the people that work there. All of this will help bring a balance to the future of chocolate.
Bibliography
Chapman, P. (2018). ‘Cocoa’, by Kristy Leissle. FT.Com, Retrieved from https://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/cocoa-kristy-leissle/docview/2121699708/se-2
Juarez-Dappe, Patricia. “History of Chocolate Class 429, Lecture 8.” California State University Northridge. Fall 2023. csun.edu.
LINDT & SPRÜNGLI AG CHOCOLADEFABRIKEN. “Lindt-Spruengli-Sustainability-Report-2021”. 2021. PDF handout. 26 Nov 2023
Mufson, Steven. "How Mars Inc., maker of M&Ms, vowed to make its chocolate green. And failed.: The global appetite for chocolate threatens West Africa, which supplies most of the world’s cocoa. A decade after Mars and other chocolate makers vowed to stop rampant deforestation, the problem has gotten worse." The Washington Post (Online)WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, 2019. ProQuest, https://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/how-mars-inc-maker-m-amp-ms-vowed-make-chocolate/docview/2310155594/se-2.
Ryan, Orla. Chocolate Nations Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa. Zed Books, 2021, https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350219151. (aka Cocoa Nations on the PDF handout)
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