Part 17 (1/2)

Since 1830 the consumption of cacao in the British Isles has shown a great and continuous increase, and there is every reason to believe that the consumption will easily keep pace with the rapidly growing production. One effect of the war has been to increase the consumption of cocoa and chocolate. Many thousands of men who took no interest in ”sweets” learned from the use of their emergency ration that chocolate was a very convenient and concentrated foodstuff.

CACAO BEANS CLEARED FOR HOME CONSUMPTION.

Year. English Tons.

1830 450 1840 900 1850 1,400 1860 1,450 1870 3,100 1880 4,700 1890 9,000 1900 16,900 1910 24,550

CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO UNITED KINGDOM.

_Total _Retained in _Home Year. Imported_ the country_ Consumption_ tons. tons. tons.

1912 33,600 27,450 24,600 1913 35,000 28,200 23,200 1914 41,750 29,600 24,900 1915 81,800 54,400 40,300 1916 88,800 64,750 29,300 1917 57,900 53,100 41,300

The above figures are compiled from the _Bulletin of the Imperial Inst.i.tute_ (No. 1, 1919). The total imports for 1918 were 42,390 tons.

This sudden and marked drop in the amount imported was due to shortage of s.h.i.+pping. There were, however, large quant.i.ties of cacao in stock, and the amount consumed showed a marked advance on previous years, being 61,252 tons.

The Board of Trade Returns for 1919 are as follow:

CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO UNITED KINGDOM.

_From_ British West Africa 72,886 tons British West Indies 13,219 tons Ecuador 9,153 tons Brazil 3,665 tons Ceylon 903 tons Other Countries 13,820 tons ------------ Total 113,646 tons ------------ Home Consumption 64,613 tons

It will be noted that the import of British cacao is over 75 per cent.

of the total.

Before the war about half the cacao imported into the United Kingdom was grown in British possessions. During the war more and more British cacao was imported, and now that a preferential duty of seven s.h.i.+llings per hundredweight has been given to British Colonial growths we shall probably see a still higher percentage of British cacao consumed in the United Kingdom.

VALUE OF CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM (TO NEAREST 1,000).

Total value of Cacao From British Possessions.

Year. Beans Imported. _Value._ _Per cent._ 1913 2,199,000 1,158,000 52.7 1914 2,439,000 1,204,000 49.4 1915 5,747,000 3,546,000 61.7 1916 6,498,000 4,417,000 68.0 1917 3,498,000 3,010,000 86.0 1918 3,040,000 2,549,000 83.8 1919 9,207,000 6,639,000 72.1

That the consumption of cacao is expected to grow greater yet in the immediate future is reflected in the prices of raw cacao, which, as soon as they were no longer fixed by the Government, rose rapidly, thus Accra cacao rose from 65s. per hundredweight to over 90s. per hundredweight in a few weeks, and now (January, 1920) stands at 104s. (See diagram p.

113).

_World Consumption._

The world's consumption of cacao is steadily rising. Before the war the United States, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, France, and Switzerland were the princ.i.p.al consumers. Whilst we have increased our consumption, so that Great Britain now occupies second place, the United States has outstripped all the other countries, having doubled its consumption in a few years, and is now taking almost as much as all the rest of the world put together. It is thought that since America has ”gone dry” this remarkably large consumption is likely to be maintained.

WORLD'S CONSUMPTION OF CACAO BEANS.

(to the nearest thousand tons) 1 ton = 1000 kilograms.

_Pre-war_ _War Period_ _Post-war_

Average of 1913. 1914, 5, 6,& 7. 1918. 1919.