My 2-year-old daughter loves M&Ms, which makes getting through the grocery store’s check out line a bit tricky, especially since she doesn’t remain in the cart while I’m unloading my items onto the conveyor belt. Last week we went through our normal ritual of me trying to make like Speedy Gonzalez and get my items sorted and paid for before she had the chance to beg me for a bag M&M’s (which are conveniently located at her eye level bordering the cash register).
“Mommy, I want M&M’s,” my daughter stated flatly. (Usually, I ignore the first two or three requests. Since she raises her voice with each announcement I can’t help but respond to the fourth.)
“Honey, we have some at home,” is my stock answer (we really do have a stockpile at home courtesy of my mom).
“No, Mommy, I want purple M&M’s,” she said.
“Purple M&M’s?” What was she talking about? I have been through that line enough to know that the M&M bags are brown, yellow, and in a few places the discontinued blue bags are still on the shelves. I figured she had mistakenly grabbed a bag of Skittles, but sure enough when I looked down there she was holding up a purple bag of M&M’s.
I took it from her and read it: “new dark chocolate M&M’s.” Hmmm. Interesting. We didn’t get them, but the incident intrigued me to do some research on chocolate when we got home. Here’s what I found: According to an industry executives, gourmet and dark chocolate sales are surging by around 30 percent a year in the United States. The reasons: the perceived “natural health” benefits of dark chocolate because of its higher cocoa content and an increased availability of such chocolates in retail outlets.
Some analysts compare the trend to the growth in the wine industry, saying, a few years ago it was hard to find expensive wines. Now they are readily available. As a result, industry executives estimated sales of premium (gourmet) chocolate in the United States at around $1.8 billion in 2005 and sales of dark chocolate at some $1.6 billion–up 28% from the year before.
Studies also show tastes around the world, from the U.S. to the U.K. are shifting toward dark chocolate. Once again experts say this can be attributed to consumers’ perceptions that a higher percentage of cocoa is healthier and better for you.
While industry leaders say the shift to dark chocolate is clear, no one can predict how long the trend would last. I remember a few years ago when white chocolate was the rage… now dark chocolate is the chocolate of choice. Well, I guess we will be in the minority because dark chocolate gives me a stomachache and I am not willing to see what it would do to my daughter.
Related Articles:
Five Foods That Can Add Spice To Your Love Life
Healthy Blood Vessels: Eat More Chocolate!