A day for chocolate

International Chocolate Day is observed every September 13. The celebration (sorry all those diet freaks) includes having loads and loads of chocolate.

The day is dedicated to Milton S Hershey, an American confectioner- philanthropist, who also founded The Hershey Chocolate Company and the company town of Hershey, Pennsylvania. He was born on September 13

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All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt. - Charles M Schulz

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India loves…!

We may not be among the top consumers of chocolate in the world and we may not produce the finest varieties globally. What the heck! The love for chocolates remains top grade. India has its own envious lip-smacking chocolate brands that have stood the test of time. We present some of them. Read while having a bite or two this Tuesday!

Dairy Milk
For us Indians, Dairy Milk is the first thing that pops in our mind when it comes to chocolate. If you ask for a chocolate at a store, you are sure to get a Dairy Milk if you haven’t specifically asked for any other. Even with their fare share of downs, Dairy Milk has managed to rise back to where they are now and it still retains its reputation.

Milky Bar
Milky Bar was what introduced most of us to white chocolate. Some of us were confused at first, refusing to accept “white” as chocolate. Then, we took our first bite and were lost in what it offered. Milky Bar was more a delicate tasting variety and one couldn’t have enough of it.

Kismi
This was an excuse for a chocolate, but a relished one nonetheless. Its toffee texture with its stand out flavour is something people still remember till date. No, you don’t need to go on a nostalgia trip and miss this one. It is available on Amazon.in.

Éclairs
When a normal student in a middle class Indian school distributed Asha Choclates and Koka Naka for their birthdays, there would be a rich kid, or maybe not, but we thought so because he distributed the Éclair. That one line of melting chocolate wrapped with the toffee was a revolutionary offering by Cadbury Éclair in its segment.

Kit Kat
Taking two of childhood’s best- wafers and chocolate, and putting it together was the best thing Nestle did for us. There’s a fine craft in the way one eats Kit Kat and everyone is supposed to get mad at the person who does not eat it that way. You know what we’re talking about. And, if you don’t then you are not eating it right.

Coffee Bite
There were a few who disliked this one small piece of toffee, which filled your mouth with the flavour of coffee. This is one toffee that has managed to retain the taste over the many years of distribution till date.

Melody
“Melody ithini choclatey kyun hai” and “Melody khao kudh jan jao”. In a time with no memes this managed to make a viral trail of jokes that was spread over text messages and the internet. Apart from that, Melody was an addictive toffee, one that really gave you a burst of toffee like chocolate. Melody still lives on to be the favorite of many.

Gems
Little drops of heaven, we called it then. Who knew chocolates could come in colours? ‘Gems’ was our desi M&Ms and till today, they still manage to attract both kids and adults alike towards its racks.

World’s top consumers

Switzerland is renowned for its exceptional chocolate. From all of those prism-shaped Toblerone bars in airport duty free shops across the world to the more local Cailler and Frey varieties, it comes as little surprise that Swiss people consume the most chocolate per capita of any country worldwide.

Every year, the average Swiss person eats just under 20 lbs of chocolate. Neighboring Germany is also a nation of chocoholics with annual consumption per capita amounting to 17.4 lbs.

The Irish also have a sweet tooth and they come joint third with the United Kingdom with 16.3 lbs per year. The United States cannot compete with Europe in the chocolate consumption league and it comes in ninth overall – the average American eats about 9.5 lbs of chocolate each year.