"box of chocolate" news and stories

 According to a study that was just released, Britons eat the most chocolate per capita, of anyone in the world. The average consumption is about 22 pounds per person. This can be compared to rates of 17.8-lbs per person in Germany, 15-lbs in France, 8.5-lbs in Spain and 4.8-lbs in Italy. The same study also showed that Germans preferred boxed chocolate treats and the French preferred molded chocolate bars. The British seemed to like anything made of milk chocolate, as only 3% of the chocolate consumption was of the dark variety!

For contrast, Americans eat about 12 pounds of chocolate per person per year. Like the British, they prefer milk chocolate to other varieties, though the interest in darker chocolates is steadily increasing. This is most likely a combination of the much-touted health benefits of dark chocolate and simply a greater availability of high-quality dark chocolates that American are developing an appreciation for.

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Unlike in the US, where men spend more on Valentine's day than their female counterparts, in Japan it is the women who spend more. The tradition of giri-choco, meaning "obligatory chocolates", is making some women bitter. The tradition basically means that women are supposed to give a box of chocolate to most of the men they know, including teachers and coworkers, in addition to boyfriends or husbands. The tradition began in the 1950's when the Japanese president "admired how American women could express their feelings to men, and thought it would be good if Japanese women could do the same" and chose to endorse the celebration of Valentine's Day. Surveys revealed that women are none too happy with this custom, nor are their pocketbooks, since the holiday generates over $420 million dollars (50 billion yen) in sales. Men are supposed to return the favor by purchasing chocolate for women next month, on White Day, March 14th, though the same surveys reveal that men are not to keen on that day.

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