Arguably the world’s favorite and most economically significant confection, chocolate is a real big deal. Globally, chocolate is an $83 billion a year business. In the United States alone, retail sales of chocolate confectionery in all channels in 2011 reached $18 billion. 2010 U.S. chocolate consumption was 3.616 billion pounds (12.6 pounds per person), just over 20% of world consumption. Europe accounts for nearly half of all chocolate consumption. In 2012, chocolate sales in China were expected to rise 19% to $1.2 billion. India expects to see a 7% jump to $633 million and Indonesia is projected to reach nearly $2 billion by 2015. Asian markets are expected to hold a 20% share of the global market by 2016. Europe has a net world cocoa import of nearly 60%, while the United States posts some 21% in this category. In 2010, the U.S. exported over $1 billion worth of bulk and retail chocolate to markets around the world. Long-term, sequencing the cocoa genome should improve yield and other traits of cocoa that will certainly improve food safety. For example, by improving yields through more disease resistant cultivars, cocoa will not have to be grown in marginal areas, allowing proper harvest and drying of the beans, which will reduce post-harvest contamination issues. Salmonella can be a problem in chocolate. Therefore, constant efforts must be made to eliminate or minimize the risks of contamination with Salmonella during chocolate production by introducing preventive measures and by adherence to good manufacturing practices. Expert speakers will address the impact of unlocking the cocoa bean’s genome on pre-harvest and post-harvest food safety, manufacturing contamination issues associated with cocoa, especially the potential for Salmonella contamination, solutions to optimize food safety throughout production, including implementing a HACCP plan in chocolate manufacturing and validation systems for roasting cocoa beans.

Presentations