ABSTRACT

'Love, peace and chocolate'—these are the words of a ten-year-old describing heaven on earth. It is true that chocolate appears to have a special connection with heaven. Central American peoples used chocolate in religious ceremonies. Chocolate is also the paradigm consumable commodity. It has many lessons for the world of ethics. Every day on average some 8,000 tonnes of cocoa beans are shipped around the world. Cocoa requires a specific tropical climate and can only be produced in certain regions of the world. The huge world demand for chocolate and the scale of its production mean that cocoa is a commodity product. Few producers or purchasers can have an effect on its price which is subject to world markets. In fact in West Africa it has meant that people have been enslaved to make working the crop more economically viable.