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Weldon LeBlanc
By Weldon LeBlanc
I’m a choco-holic. I’ve just learned that I can blame my sweet-tooth addiction on my ancestors from the caveman era. Apparently cavemen dug honey from bee hives to satisfy their sweet cravings.
Satisfying our sweet-tooth is big business and Easter is a huge holiday season for the confectionary industry. Stats prepared by the National Confectioners Association estimate that the Easter holiday this year will generate $1.9 billion in sales, second only to Halloween ($2.2 billion). Christmas is the third busiest holiday ($1.4 billion) followed by Valentines Day ($0.9 billion).
The Easter holiday varies from year to year falling on the first Sunday after the full moon following March 21 (the spring equinox). This means that the holiday can occur between the dates of March 22 and April 25 which causes grief to the confectionary industry. The earlier that Easter occurs, the shorter the retail season which has a negative impact on retail sales.
Chocolate represents 58 per cent of the total confectionery dollar sales. Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies will be made this year to satisfy our chocolate cravings this weekend. In case you didn’t know, adults prefer milk chocolate (65 per cent), to dark chocolate (27 per cent).
Make sure you know your chocolate bunny etiquette when you bite into your Easter treat; according to 76 per cent of Americans bunnies should be eaten ears first, 5 per cent percent said feet first, and 4 per cent prefer eating the tail first.
But it’s not just about the chocolate; 16 billion jellybeans will be made in a variety of colors as well. If all the Easter jellybeans were lined end to end, they would circle the globe nearly three times.
And there’s etiquette to eating jellybeans too. 70 per cent of kids aged six to 11 say they prefer to eat jellybeans one at a time, while 23 per cent report eating several at once. Not sure what color of jellybeans to get the kids; children surveyed indicated their favourite flavours are cherry (20 per cent), strawberry (12 per cent), grape (10 per cent), lime (seven per cent), and blueberry (six per cent).
Other Easter candies on your kids wish list include marshmallow treats (18 per cent), malted milk balls/eggs (17 per cent) and jelly beans (16 per cent).
But don’t fool yourself, chocolate is still the preferred treat. In a survey conducted by the National Confectioners Association in 2006, more than half of kids first reached for their chocolate bunnies.
When you add up the entire Easter treat manufactured in the U.S., it amounts to approximately 7.1 billion pounds of treats. These are powerful numbers.
But don’t let the guilt of stuffing yourself with Easter treat get you down. Apparently less than two per cent of the calories in the American diet are supplied by candy.
Cocoa butter, the form of fat found in chocolate, does not raise blood cholesterol levels. Cocoa butter is derived from cacao trees; while other types of saturated fats are derived from animals. Visit the National Confectionary Association website at www.candyusa.com for more facts, trivia, and Easter traditions.
For me, the Easter holiday is time to spend with my family and enjoy the Okanagan lifestyle. And of course, eat lots of chocolate to indulge my addiction.
Weldon LeBlanc is the CEO of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce.
2 Responses to “Weldon LeBlanc: Blame the cavemen for your chocolate cravings this Easter”
Tags: chocolate and cavemen, Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, weldon leblanc
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Honey would have been rarely eaten. The African bees are quite fierce. You have sweet cravings because you eat sweets. It is kind of like a tolerance to sweetness. If you stop eating sweet things the cravings will go away. Completely. As for chocolate. Like any addiction stop eating it and the cravings will go away.
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Truth be told, I eat chocolate because I love it. Thankfully I don’t have to battle the African bees to get it. Thanks for the advice :)
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