Project Results

There is a significant difference between the chocolate industries in Europe versus the chocolate industries in America. Most chocolate that Americans consume is produced by major industrial corporations: Hershey’s, Nestle, Mars, Cadbury, Dove, etc. Large scale machines quickly produce masses of chocolates and distribute them all over the nation and the world. Cheap ingredients are used to bring the cost of production down. For example, sugar is a very cheap ingredient, so American companies use a lot of sugar in their chocolates, resulting in a cheap product that is very sweet. These mass amounts of sugar act as an addictive component in each bite of chocolate. Americans devour chocolate, almost like eating chips. We usually head to the grocery store or the gas station to purchase chocolate. Rows and rows of colorful pre-packaged candy bars and other chocolate candies entice us from their shelves. We sit on the couch with our bag of M&Ms and absentmindedly eat while watching TV. Did we even take the time to enjoy the chocolate we just ate? This chocolate does not even fill us up. We feel obligated to finish that bag of M&Ms or that Twix bar. We grab another bag of those chocolates and another candy bar and continue to eat. In a nutshell, the American chocolate industry produces low-quality chocolate products that are not valued by American customers.

Now don’t get me wrong, Europe also has major chocolate companies. In Switzerland: Lindt, Belgium: Godiva, and Germany: Milka. However, the ingredients used are of much higher quality. When referring to European chocolate, you can easily pass right over these companies and head straight to the small shops. Small. Chocolate. Companies. In each city that I visited, there are small chocolate shops everywhere. These shops make the chocolate on site, using smaller machines and some even produce by hand. High quality, local ingredients are used to yield a much better tasting and richer chocolate. Unlike American chocolate, European chocolate is not saturated with sugars that will bring the cost of production down and addict millions of consumers. Additionally, chocolate is thought of as a decadence and a treat in Europe. You will not see a European chomping on a chocolate bar or dumping a bag of M&Ms in their mouth. Europeans produce fine chocolates called pralines. After meeting with a chocolatier in Switzerland, I learned that you should feel full after eating 3 or 4 small pralines. The flavors and the high-quality ingredients should speak for themselves in each bite of chocolate. Europeans enjoy each bite of chocolate. Walking into a European chocolate shop is a very “brown” experience. By this, I mean that you see fresh pralines, truffles, and slabbed chocolate on display for purchasing. Just as you would purchase fresh cupcakes at a bakery, Europeans purchase their chocolates. European chocolate is much higher and quality and is a treat of higher value.

I visited two cities in Switzerland: Zurich and Geneva. Zurich is German speaking and Geneva is French speaking. German areas produce more milk chocolate and French areas produce more dark chocolate. Switzerland overall produces the best milk chocolate out of the three countries I visited. The Swiss cows have ample room to roam in the pastures and are fed healthy grasses, unlike the American cows that are pumped with hormones. The milk that these cows yield goes into the chocolate and produces a very creamy, melt-in-your-mouth Swiss chocolate. Zurich focused mainly on the milk chocolates. Truffles and some pralines were also sold here. Geneva had mostly dark chocolates. These were more bitter tasting and just seemed fancier. They infuse their chocolates with ingredients such as rose essential oil, lavender, and lime. The company I visited in Geneva had a wide arrangement of pralines. Overall, Switzerland is the best producer of chocolate in my opinion. They use very fresh ingredients, the chocolate is very milky and creamy, and they have a wide range of milk and dark chocolates.

Belgium had the most chocolate shops out of the three countries I visited. Every other store is a chocolate shop when you walk down the street. Bruges, a very small city, had 55 chocolate shops. Switzerland has a nice balance of fresh breaking chocolate, truffles, and pralines. Belgium focuses mainly on the praline. The one store I visited offered around 80 different varieties of pralines. They use so many different fruits, spices, and herbs and are constantly creating new praline combinations. Belgian chocolatiers love to play around with new flavors, textures, and ingredient proportions and are always experimenting. When comparing just a standard milk chocolate, Belgian milk chocolate is a little less milky than Swiss but is sweeter. Belgians use more sugar in their chocolate.

Germany did not have all these small chocolate shops that I was experiencing in Switzerland and Belgium. In fact, the only chocolate shop I saw was the shop of the chocolatier that I met with. Germany has larger chocolate companies such as Milka and Ferrero that produce chocolate bars, foil wrapped figures, and other chocolate toys. Large factories with industrial machines are used but the quality of ingredients used is still higher than American chocolates. Two of the chocolatiers I met with stated that Germany is no competition in the chocolate world. German chocolate is very sweet. Depending on the brand, the chocolate can be milky.