Russia: Chocolate & chocolate confectionery imported in Japan

Japan has the highest confectionery consumption among Asian countries, including chocolate. According to surveys, almost 13% of the inhabitants of the island state eat chocolate daily, another 20% - two to three times a week. Japan is a net importer of chocolate confectionery. Last year, 167.4 thousand tons of chocolate and chocolate confectionery worth $ 579 million were imported into the country. The main exporters of semi-finished chocolate were Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia, and Italy, Belgium and France of finished chocolate. Only 40 years ago, in 1980, only 3% of the population of this country ate chocolate and perceived it as a product acceptable for the Japanese diet, recalls Vyacheslav Lashmankin, executive director of the Association of Confectionery Enterprises "Askond". To change the attitude of the Japanese population to chocolate, the International Cocoa Organization, of which 149 countries of the world, including Russia, are members, developed and ...