Geoffrey Branger, edited by Gauthier Delomez 06:15, December 06, 2022
In 2021, no less than 30,000 tonnes of chocolate were sold over the Christmas period alone.
Moreover, the place granted to chocolate, in particular dark, extends on the shelves of supermarkets.
In reality, the French are big consumers.
Europe 1 takes stock with a nutritionist.
85, 90, even 99%: the French love dark chocolate!
Around 30% of the chocolate consumed is dark chocolate, compared to an average of 5% in Europe.
This is why it is massively expanding in our supermarket shelves for the Christmas period.
So how can this trend be explained?
In reality, consumers today are looking for the true taste of cocoa, the one found precisely in dark chocolate.
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To please us, brands adapt.
This year, for example, the chocolatier Milka changed its recipe.
There is 10% more cocoa, and 5% less sugar.
If it is still milk chocolate, it shows that the trend is to put cocoa back at the heart of the product.
Like an antidepressant
If dark chocolate is so popular, it is also because it is good for your health.
"It is more 'satiating' (fights hunger pangs, editor's note), it is less sweet and its magnesium content helps reduce fatigue and help with concentration", explains Laëtitia Suissa, nutritionist in Paris at the microphone of Europe 1. The other advantage of this variety is that it contains molecules that act as antidepressants.
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Despite these many advantages, chocolate still has some disadvantages.
First, its bitterness can put off more than a year.
It is also a high calorie food.
Eating too much of it is not healthy, and can even cause migraines in some people.
In any case, in 2021, nearly 30,000 tonnes of chocolate were sold over the Christmas period alone.