Germans eat almost 10 kilos of chocolate per person per year

By Carsten Hoefer, dpa

Despite last year’s high inflation and weaker economy, German chocolate manufacturers increased their production by 1.7% up to 1.2 million tons, the German Confectionery Industry Association (BDSI) based in Bonn reported on Tuesday.

Per capita consumption in Germany has slightly increased to an estimated 9.56 kilograms.

Anticipating Easter, each citizen is expected to eat more than one chocolate bunny, with the industry producing 108 million chocolate bunnies for sale in Germany.

But the confectionery industry has also not been exempt from inflation, which is noticeable in the value of chocolate goods produced in Germany rising faster than production, by 4.5% to around €6.2 billion ($6.7 billion). Especially exports increased strongly.

Debates around healthy diets have not affected the country’s appetite for chocolate: In the early 1980s the estimate for per person consumption was considerably lower at 6.5 kilograms.

These numbers should be interpreted cautiously since definitions of chocolate products have changed over the past decades, according to a BDSI spokeswoman.

According to the BDSI, the favourite flavour remains milk chocolate despite many manufacturers adding dark chocolate with high amounts of cocoa to their range.

Vegan variants and products using cocoa from specific countries of origin such as Ecuador or Peru are being increasingly offered on the market.

Last year the industry suffered from supply issues at times. For example, chocolate Santa Clauses were largely sold out in some Munich supermarkets before Christmas.

“The supply chain problem has improved again since the beginning of 2023,” the BDSI spokeswoman said.

Like many other industries the sector is also suffering from rising costs in energy and resources. According to the BDSI, in 2022 the over 200 companies in the industry experienced a “spiral of cost increases and, in some cases, massive problems and failures in international supply chains not seen since World War II.”