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1. INTRODUCTION[/b]
1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY:[/b]
The organized sector of the confectionery market is estimated to be about Rs 1400 crore and it is estimated that the market is growing at a pace of 9 per cent per annum. The confectionery industry in India is the largest among the food processing industries. It has an annual turnover of around Rs 3,500 crores with huge potential to grow. (Including the organized and the non-organized sector).There are four categories of confectionery in the organized sector - chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery, gum and cereal bars. A large part of the confectionery industry in India comprise of the local subsidiaries of global confectionery majors like Perfetti, Lotte, Wrigley's and Cadbury.
Korean confectionery company Lotte India, acquired a 60.39 per cent in Parry`s Confectionery from the Murugappa group in January 2004 for Rs64.47 crore, and later another 20 per cent through an open offer. One of the leading players in the Indian confectionery market is the Rs 125 crore Candico. Candico started their operations in 1997, and now they are the largest Confectionery Company in India. In fact, Candico is a confectionery multinational headquartered in India with operations in 19 countries. Candico is the only Indian confectionery company with production facilities overseas. In June 2006, Godrej Foods & Beverages Limited acquired India's leading confectionery player, Nutrine Confectionery Company Private Limited.
In April, 2007, The Hershey Company, North America's leading chocolate and confectionery manufacturer, and Godrej Beverages and Foods Ltd., one of India's largest confectionery and Food Company and an associate of Godrej Industries Limited, announced a joint venture to manufacture and distribute confectionery, snacks and beverages across India. The joint venture is called Godrej Hershey Foods & Beverages Ltd.
1.1(a) ORIGIN:[/b]
The oldest records related to chocolates date back to somewhere around 1500-2000 BC. The high rainfall, soaring temperatures and great humidity of Central American rain forests created the perfect climate for the cultivation of the Cacao Tree. During that time, the Mayan civilization used to flourish in that region. Mayan people worshipped Cacao Tree, believing it to be of divine origin. They also used to roasted and pounded seeds of the tree, with maize and Capsicum (Chilli) peppers, to brew a spicy, bitter sweet drink. The drink was consumed either in ceremonies or in the homes of the wealthy and religious elite.
It is said that the word ‘Cacao’ was corrupted by the early European explorers and turned into 'Cocoa'. Even the Aztecs, of Central Mexico, are believed to have acquired the beans through trade and/or the spoils of war. In fact, Cacao beans were considered to be so prized by Aztecs that they started using it as a type of currency. They also made a drink, similar to the one made by Mayans, and called it ‘Xocolatl’, the name which was later corrupted to 'Chocolat', by Spanish conquistadors. The further corruption of the word, which finally gave it its present form ’Chocolate’, was done by the English.
Entry in Europe:
Xocolatl, or Chocolate, was brought to Europe by Cortez. It was here that sugar and vanilla were added to the Aztec's brew, to offset its spicy bitterness. The commercialization of chocolate started in Spain, where the first chocolate factories were opened. Spanish treasure fleets brought back dried fermented beans from the new world, roasting and grounding them to make chocolate powder. This powder was used to make European version of the ‘Aztec’ drink and then, exported to the other countries in Europe.
Within a few years, Spain’s drink become popular throughout the continent and it was around 1520 that it came to England. However, it was only in the year 1657 that the first Chocolate House of England was opened, in London. The popularity of the drink led to a string of other Chocolate Houses. Since cocoa was so expensive, the houses started serving as elite clubs, where the wealthy and business community met to smoke a clay pipe of tobacco, conduct business and socialize over a cup of chocolate.
It’s America Again
Chocolate came to the place of its birth once again. This time, it was the English colonists who carried chocolate, along with coffee, with them to the colonies in North America. These colonies later consolidated into the United States of America and Canada. Despite the changes in the territorial boundaries, chocolate continued to be a favorite of all the Americans, of every age, sex, group, and so on. Till date, the status quo has not changed and hot chocolate is still one of the favorite drinks of the Americans.
Modern Chocolate
The chocolate of today, in the sold form, took its roots in England. It was around mid-1600, when English bakers started adding cocoa powder to cakes. Seeking to make chocolate drink smoother and more palatable, Johannes Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a technique of extracting the bitter tasting fat (cocoa butter) from the roasted ground beans, in 1828. With this, he paved the way for the chocolate in its present form.
It was in 1847 that solid chocolate, as we know of today, was made by Fry & Sons of Bristol (England), by mixing sugar with cocoa powder and cocoa butter. The first milk chocolate was made in 1875, by Daniel Peters, a Swiss manufacturer, by mixing cocoa powder and cocoa butter with sugar and dried milk powder. The rest, as they say, is history! Today, chocolate is made across the globe and liked by almost every person in this world.
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1.1(b) HISTORY:[/b]
Chocolate is almost unique as a food in that it is solid at normal room temperatures yet melts easily within the mouth. This is because the fat in it, which is called cocoa butter, is mainly solid at temperatures below 25 "C when it holds all the solid sugar and cocoa particles together. The fat is, however, almost entirely liquid at body temperature, enabling the particles to flow past one another, so the chocolate becomes a smooth liquid when it is heated in the mouth. Chocolate also has a sweet taste that is attractive to most people. Strangely chocolate began as a rather astringent, fatty and unpleasant tasting drink and the fact that it was developed at all is one of the
mysteries of history.
CHOCOLATE AS A DRINK:[/b]
The first known cocoa plantations were established by the Maya in the lowlands of south Yucatan about 600 AD. Cocoa trees were being grown by the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru when the Europeans discovered central America. The beans were highly prized and used as money as well as to produce a drink known as chocolatl. They could then be kneaded into cakes, which could be mixed with cold water to make a drink. Vanilla, spices or honey were often added and the drink whipped to make it frothy.
Christopher Columbus bought back some cocoa beans to Europe as a curiosity, but it was only after the Spaniards conquered