THE CONSUMPTION OF CACAO 185 



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, J 53 tons 



Brazil 3,665 tons 



Ceylon 903 tons 



Other Countries . , 13,820 tons 



Total 1 13,646 tons 



Home Consumption 64, 61 3 tons 



It will be noted that the import of British cacao is 

 over 75 per cent, of the total. 



Before the w r ar about half the cacao imported into 

 the United Kingdom was grown in British possessions. 

 During the war more and more British cacao was im- 

 ported, and now that a preferential duty of seven 

 shillings 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 



1 9 1 5 Z5>747> Z3>54 6 > 61-7 



1916 .... 6,498,000 4,417,000 68*0 



1917 .... 3,498,000 3,010,000 86'o 



1918 3,040,000 2,549,000 83*8 



1919 .... 9,207,000 6,639,000 72'! 



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 655. per hundredweight to over 

 905. per hundredweight in a few weeks, and now 

 (January, 1920) stands at 1045. (See diagram p. 113). 



