We are there again, world!
Yes, eat the "empty calories" of chocolate to assuage that gnawing hunger and nutrition deficit -- if you can afford it.
"Demand for the sweet life on rise; Chocolate is an affordable luxury in weak economy" by Associated Press | August 27, 2008
NEW YORK - As a software developer who worked with NASA, Timothy Childs built vision-tracking systems for the space shuttle. Now the former techie has a new venture that he says is out of this world: chocolate.
As demand for premium chocolate soars, a new crop of high-tech confectioners are changing the industry with Silicon Valley-style innovation, antique German equipment, and an obsession with the simple cocoa bean.
Though a soft economy has forced Americans to cut back on some luxuries, US sales of dark chocolate keep booming, lifted even higher recently by studies touting the confection's purported health benefits and growing consumer interest in organic and fair-trade products.
Total US chocolate sales are expected to soar to $18 billion annually by 2011, up from $16 billion in 2006, with organic and dark chocolate representing the fastest-growing segment.
"Chocolate is an affordable indulgence. No matter how difficult economic times get, we'll always want to treat ourselves," said Joan Steuer, president of Chocolate Marketing LLC, which studies trends and new products in the industry.
But while sales are growing, so is the competition, crowding shelves of grocery stores with brands like Ghirardelli, Godiva, Dagoba, and Scharffen Berger.
I can't afford any of those.
I'm offered dogshit drops that cost a buck!
--more--"
Maybe you could add some chocolate to the dirt cookies, 'eh?
