g COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. 



A recent estimate of the total amount of crude cocoa exported from 

 the tropical regions in which it is grown, based partly on official figures 

 and partly on expert estimates, is about 300,000,000 pounds per annum. 

 In the report of the U. S. Bureau of Statistics for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1906, the principal importations of crude cocoa into 

 this country are given as follows: British West Indies, 25,933,087 

 pounds; other West Indies, 10,389,576; Brazil, 12,064,302; other 

 South American countries of which Ecuador, next to Brazil, furnishes 

 the largest supply, 18,028,265 ; Europe, principally from the Portu- 

 guese island of San Thome on the West Coast of Africa, 12,794,055. 



In the United Kingdom the amount consumed in 1831 was only % of 

 an ounce for each inhabitant. In 1902 it had risen to about 17 ounces; 

 that is, about 45,500,000 pounds. The percentage of increase since 

 1860 has been much greater than that of tea or coffee. In that year 

 the consumption of tea was 2.67 pounds for each inhabitant: of coffee, 

 1.23 pounds; of cocoa, 2 ounces. In 1903, the consumption of tea 

 was 6.03 pounds for each inhabitant; of coffee, only 12 ounces: of 

 cocoa, about 17 ounces. It appears from this that in Great Britain and 

 Ireland cocoa is actually taking the place of coffee, the per capita use 

 of the former having increased about 750 per cent., while the per 

 capita use of the latter has greatly decreased. 



In the United States the increased consumption of cocoa in recent 

 years has been even more striking. The amount retained for home 

 consumption in 1860 was only 1,181,054 pounds, or % of an ounce for 

 each inhabitant. The average annual consumption for the three years, 

 1904, 1905, and 1906, amounted to 73,034,272 pounds. 1 This shows 

 an increase greatly in excess of the increase during the same 

 period in the consumption of coffee and tea. In 1860, the consump- 

 tion of coffee per capita was 5.79 pounds; in 1906 it was about n 

 pounds. The consumption of tea in 1860 was about 13^ ounces per 

 capita; in 1903 it was about 17 ounces. The consumption of cocoa 



1 These are the Custom House returns for the year ending June 30. 



