Belgium world’s third-largest trader cocoa products, prices Easter chocolate rising
Belgium is the world’s third-largest trader in cocoa beans and products, such as chocolate, cocoa powder and cocoa butter – after Germany and the Netherlands. That show figures from the Dutch statistics agency CBS. Meanwhile, the Belgian consumer organisation Testaankoop reports that prices of Easter chocolate have risen by an average of 5.5 per cent over the past year.
According to the Dutch statistics agency CBS, Belgium exported 8.4 billion euros worth of cocoa beans and products last year, whilst imports amounted to 8.2 billion euros. The cocoa trade of the Netherlands, the world’s largest trader in cocoa beans and products, amounted to almost 25 billion euros last year.
The Netherlands imports large quantities of cocoa beans, often via Amsterdam, the world’s largest cocoa port. The beans are then processed by the industry into semi-finished products. These are then sent to other countries, where they are turned into chocolate. This happens, for example, in Belgium and Germany. Belgium and Germany import more of these semi-finished products than cocoa beans, and in turn they export more chocolate than the Netherlands.
Easter chocolate
Meanwhile, the Belgian consumer organisation Testaankoop reports that prices for Easter chocolate have risen by an average of 5.5 per cent over the past year. This increase is considerably smaller than twelve months ago, when the rise was 27 per cent.
“The war in the Middle East is not yet reflected in supermarket prices,” stated spokesperson Ortwin Huysmans. “But we know there is always a lag between rises in energy prices and food prices. We will probably not escape food inflation if energy prices continue to rise.”
Illustration © PHOTO Francois Greuez/SIPA/2603261503
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