I won a small bar of chocolate at the latest Sunrise bingo session. A very small bar compared with the one I enjoyed as a youngster.
When I look back I realise that downsizing does not apply to the cost of chocolate.
My favourite bar was Milky Way, first produced in England in 1924. It cost just a halfpenny - I could splash out and get two for my weekly pocket money.
My other favourite was the Mars Bar. I was six when it was first produced. It cost a penny and it was a was a real treat, very substantial.
In those days you could buy four ounces of excellent chocolate for twopence.
Today, even the smallest chocolate bars cost 70p or more and are gone in a few small nibbles rather than bites.
It set me thinking about the chocolate as the vast multi billion pound industry it is today.
Two British firms were among the pioneers, Fry’s of Bristol and Cadbury of Birmingham.
It was Joseph Fry who produced the world’s first chocolate bar 1847.
The mid and late 19th century was the golden age for chocolate lovers with many countries competing in the exploding market.
Today the chocolate business is worth billions a year for many countries including the UK, USA, Germany; in Belgium and Switzerland it is a top earning industry.
I became interested in the subject and my research has led to my latest quiz formSunrise residents, ‘So you like chocolate’.
Mouthwatering.
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