BILL FOR SWEETS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 5 October 1936, Page 3

BILL FOR SWEETS

PUBLIC IN BRITAIN £ 1,300.000 EVERY WEEK NEW ZEALAND BUTTER USED LONDON, sth September. Tiie average Now Zealander probably regards Great Britain as a very small country with a very large appetite for mutton, lamb, fruit, blitter, cheese and wool. In that assumption, to his own knowledge, he is fairly accurate. But, while Great Britain has an appetite for this plain, simple and thoroughly wholesome fare, it has in addition a very sweet tooth; its consumption of sweets and chocolates was announced at the chocolate and confectionery exhibition at Olympia as £1,000,000 every week. It was also estimated that every British family buys one and a-third pounds of sweets of all sorts every week, and that the figure is rising. The consumption of chocolate is already so universal that the trade can only expand by getting buyers to buy still more.

New Zealanders, especially the dairy community, are directly interested in Britain’s sweet tooth, for large quantities of New Zealand butter find their way into the hands of the chocolatemakers and into the chocolate, toffee and caramel machines, finally appearing in boxes of all shapes and kinds.

CONSUMPTION IN SCOTLAND People in Scotland eat more chocolate per head of the population than in any other part of the United Kingdom; the food value of milk chocolate is 26] 5 calories, that of beefsteak 960. About one in eight people in a cinema eats chocolate, and more young men are buying chocolate than formerly; in fact, 85 per cent of young men buy it for themselves and not for their lady friends. But they give more chocolate confectionery away, while young women buy for themselves. More women in the south of England receive presents of chocolate than their sisters in the north.

Manufacturers have discovered with pleasure that chocolate is no longer regarded as a luxury, but that it is now being looked upon as a foodstuff in the every day diet of a widening circle of people, particularly the poorer people. All three defence forces believe in it, and the Army has cast aside pemmican and bully beef as an emergency ration and adopted milk chocolate. The Air Ministry recommends that it should be in.— eluded in the stores of persons taking long flights, both for ordinary and emergency rations. Explorers, mountaineers and athletes also rely on chocolate.

“SILENT THEATRE BOX” Second only, among cinema and theatre pests, to the conversationalist who lias seen it before or delights in making a running commentary, is the chocolate-box paper rustler. One of the “latest fashions” at Olympia this year is the “silent theatre box,” guaranteed not to disturb the most sensitive of ears. Designs for chocolate boxes vary from year to year. Most interesting of the new ones are those with the King Edward VIII covers. Queen Mary and Princess Elizabeth are also commemorated this year. Public opinion is sometimes definitely sought upon chocolate. On one occasion a questionnaire was sent to 13,000 men and women in every part of Britain, and they were asked to vote on different types. More than 100,000 were used in the investigations, which lasted nearly a year. Eventually a new assortment was created. Naturally, it is popular. It is care and initiative of this nature that has enabled Great Britain to rise to the premier place in the world of chocolate-makers. About 30 years ago Germany was pre-eminent, but the position is now changed. Upwards of £ 100 is spent on sweets in Great Britain every minute of the night and day, goods are sold through 250,000 retail shops and manufacturers employ more than 86,000 insured workers. And all because of the nation’s sweet tooth.