As Americans and other citizens of the world fully know, the U.
S.
economy and the economies of most other countries have been weak to bad in the past couple of years.
Downturns and recessions, although they are inevitable aspects of economic cycles, are extremely painful for many people.
One Big Bright Spot: One big bright spot, however, is the chocolate industry.
It may be surprising to some, but not to chocolate industry watchers.
Chocolate sales were up in the Great Depression of the 1930's and they were up during every recession since then including the most recent.
Sales of chocolate and cocoa products in the $80 billion chocolate industry have risen substantially in the past couple of years.
Why does the sale of chocolate and cocoa products increase when the sales of almost everything else go down? A Mood Enhancer: The most common answer from the experts is that the ingredients in chocolate, especially dark chocolate and cocoa, are a powerful mood enhancer.
When times get tough and people tend to feel down or depressed, they look for something affordable to lift their moods and make them feel better and happier.
Market research by major chocolate companies confirms this as well.
And given that theory it is no coincidence that the sale of inexpensive beers, cheap wines and cheap vodka also tend to rise or at least remain stable.
More expensive beer, wine and liquor sales always drop in a weak economy.
The problem is that beer, wine and liquors are actually depressants, not mood lifters.
They may be more suited to escapists who may have to tolerate a cheap liquor hangover, rather than people who just want to enjoy some good chocolate and have their mood lifted.
The Big Boys: Hershey Company, the largest retailer of chocolate products in the Unites States has reported publicly that its chocolate sales have climbed up close to 8% over the past two years and that its profits have been up over 25% in that period, in some part, thanks to price increases on chocolate bars because of the increased demand.
Recently its common stock has been trading well over 45% higher than it was two years ago.
Other major chocolate companies in the USA, England, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have reported increases in chocolate sales as well over the past two years.
They have all noticed that recent articles and research findings posted on the Internet have stimulated new interest in dark chocolate and cocoa products as significant health foods.
The Science: In the early 2000's a great deal of scientific and medical research had proven that cocoa, acai berries and dark chocolate contained the highest concentrations of natural antioxidants of any commonly eaten food substances on the planet.
They came up with tests and a scoring scale for antioxidants called the ORAC scale.
ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity, or the antioxidants' abilities to neutralize dangerous free radicals that are harmful to cells in the body.
This was the beginning of the worldwide high antioxidant movement.
They also discovered that 70% cocoa content dark chocolate and cocoa powder itself contained two of the highest concentrations of antioxidants.
Dark chocolate and pure cocoa had become an authentic, scientifically proven health foods.
Acai berries and blueberries also scored near the top in antioxidants.
A Major Worldwide Problem: At about the same time, it was discovered that when commercial 70% dark chocolate products are manufactured, although they are considered "healthy," they loose much of the antioxidants in the heating and alkalizing process.
Scientists learned that milk chocolates contain virtually no antioxidants and their high sugar and fat content actually makes them "unhealthy.
" In addition, most contain waxes, hydrogenated oils, fillers and preservatives.
Statistics show that over 90% of people on our planet eat chocolate regularly.
Nearly 45% eat it almost daily.
The problem is that most of the chocolate consumed is the "unhealthy" kind: it is extremely low in antioxidants, it is commercially alkalized, it is high in calories, and it is full of unhealthy refined sugar, waxes, fillers, preservatives and milk fats.
Chocolates that are high in refined sugars also promote sugar addictions and could lead to diabetes.
These commercial chocolates can be very unhealthy for adults and kids alike.
Anyone interested in good health knows that this has to change.
One Company Unique in the Industry: About six years ago, a privately held $300 million US-based chocolate company called MXI Corp, that had been marketing diabetic-safe chocolate products through Wal-Mart and Target stores for several years, decide to assemble a team of chocolate scientist and developers in Belgium to develop a new "ultra-healthy" chocolate.
They wanted to create some all-natural low-fat dark chocolate and cocoa products containing pure unheated cocoa, acai berries and blue berries.
The Results: About five years ago they created and patented a new special scientific process to manufacture cold pressed non-alkalized all-natural chocolate products that retain their high antioxidant content.
These products contain pure, natural cocoa powder, acai berries and blue berries.
They are low in fat, they use natural low glycemic sweeteners and they are ultra-high in natural antioxidants.
Some of the products are kosher.
All are laboratory tested to guarantee the highest ORAC levels.
They have also proven to be quite effective for weight loss and weight control.
In addition to being mood enhancers because of the cacao content, the cocoa and acai berries provide natural antioxidants, flavonoids, catechins and epicatechins that benefit the body's cellular health, and that can improve the health of every system of the body.
The Doctors: Because of the important discoveries by MXI Corp and their exclusive line of nine ultra-high antioxidant "healthy" chocolate and acai berry products, plus the endorsements of thousands of doctor around the world and the buzz on the web, their sales have grow much faster than the rest of the chocolate industry.
Because of the proven health benefits, over the past four years, the sales of MXI Corp's Xocai products have increased by an average of over 43% annually - tops in the chocolate industry, The Distributors: MXI Corp and Xocai products also benefit from their network of independent distributors worldwide.
Because of weak economies, many budding entrepreneurs and home business seekers have been looking for that rare business that is booming, and they have become MXI Corp distributors.
Healthy chocolate entrepreneurs love that fact that the healthy chocolate market is still 99% open and poised for massive growth.
It is very good to know that the chocolate industry as a whole, and MXI Corp in particular, truly represent a big bright spot in this weak economy.
S.
economy and the economies of most other countries have been weak to bad in the past couple of years.
Downturns and recessions, although they are inevitable aspects of economic cycles, are extremely painful for many people.
One Big Bright Spot: One big bright spot, however, is the chocolate industry.
It may be surprising to some, but not to chocolate industry watchers.
Chocolate sales were up in the Great Depression of the 1930's and they were up during every recession since then including the most recent.
Sales of chocolate and cocoa products in the $80 billion chocolate industry have risen substantially in the past couple of years.
Why does the sale of chocolate and cocoa products increase when the sales of almost everything else go down? A Mood Enhancer: The most common answer from the experts is that the ingredients in chocolate, especially dark chocolate and cocoa, are a powerful mood enhancer.
When times get tough and people tend to feel down or depressed, they look for something affordable to lift their moods and make them feel better and happier.
Market research by major chocolate companies confirms this as well.
And given that theory it is no coincidence that the sale of inexpensive beers, cheap wines and cheap vodka also tend to rise or at least remain stable.
More expensive beer, wine and liquor sales always drop in a weak economy.
The problem is that beer, wine and liquors are actually depressants, not mood lifters.
They may be more suited to escapists who may have to tolerate a cheap liquor hangover, rather than people who just want to enjoy some good chocolate and have their mood lifted.
The Big Boys: Hershey Company, the largest retailer of chocolate products in the Unites States has reported publicly that its chocolate sales have climbed up close to 8% over the past two years and that its profits have been up over 25% in that period, in some part, thanks to price increases on chocolate bars because of the increased demand.
Recently its common stock has been trading well over 45% higher than it was two years ago.
Other major chocolate companies in the USA, England, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have reported increases in chocolate sales as well over the past two years.
They have all noticed that recent articles and research findings posted on the Internet have stimulated new interest in dark chocolate and cocoa products as significant health foods.
The Science: In the early 2000's a great deal of scientific and medical research had proven that cocoa, acai berries and dark chocolate contained the highest concentrations of natural antioxidants of any commonly eaten food substances on the planet.
They came up with tests and a scoring scale for antioxidants called the ORAC scale.
ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity, or the antioxidants' abilities to neutralize dangerous free radicals that are harmful to cells in the body.
This was the beginning of the worldwide high antioxidant movement.
They also discovered that 70% cocoa content dark chocolate and cocoa powder itself contained two of the highest concentrations of antioxidants.
Dark chocolate and pure cocoa had become an authentic, scientifically proven health foods.
Acai berries and blueberries also scored near the top in antioxidants.
A Major Worldwide Problem: At about the same time, it was discovered that when commercial 70% dark chocolate products are manufactured, although they are considered "healthy," they loose much of the antioxidants in the heating and alkalizing process.
Scientists learned that milk chocolates contain virtually no antioxidants and their high sugar and fat content actually makes them "unhealthy.
" In addition, most contain waxes, hydrogenated oils, fillers and preservatives.
Statistics show that over 90% of people on our planet eat chocolate regularly.
Nearly 45% eat it almost daily.
The problem is that most of the chocolate consumed is the "unhealthy" kind: it is extremely low in antioxidants, it is commercially alkalized, it is high in calories, and it is full of unhealthy refined sugar, waxes, fillers, preservatives and milk fats.
Chocolates that are high in refined sugars also promote sugar addictions and could lead to diabetes.
These commercial chocolates can be very unhealthy for adults and kids alike.
Anyone interested in good health knows that this has to change.
One Company Unique in the Industry: About six years ago, a privately held $300 million US-based chocolate company called MXI Corp, that had been marketing diabetic-safe chocolate products through Wal-Mart and Target stores for several years, decide to assemble a team of chocolate scientist and developers in Belgium to develop a new "ultra-healthy" chocolate.
They wanted to create some all-natural low-fat dark chocolate and cocoa products containing pure unheated cocoa, acai berries and blue berries.
The Results: About five years ago they created and patented a new special scientific process to manufacture cold pressed non-alkalized all-natural chocolate products that retain their high antioxidant content.
These products contain pure, natural cocoa powder, acai berries and blue berries.
They are low in fat, they use natural low glycemic sweeteners and they are ultra-high in natural antioxidants.
Some of the products are kosher.
All are laboratory tested to guarantee the highest ORAC levels.
They have also proven to be quite effective for weight loss and weight control.
In addition to being mood enhancers because of the cacao content, the cocoa and acai berries provide natural antioxidants, flavonoids, catechins and epicatechins that benefit the body's cellular health, and that can improve the health of every system of the body.
The Doctors: Because of the important discoveries by MXI Corp and their exclusive line of nine ultra-high antioxidant "healthy" chocolate and acai berry products, plus the endorsements of thousands of doctor around the world and the buzz on the web, their sales have grow much faster than the rest of the chocolate industry.
Because of the proven health benefits, over the past four years, the sales of MXI Corp's Xocai products have increased by an average of over 43% annually - tops in the chocolate industry, The Distributors: MXI Corp and Xocai products also benefit from their network of independent distributors worldwide.
Because of weak economies, many budding entrepreneurs and home business seekers have been looking for that rare business that is booming, and they have become MXI Corp distributors.
Healthy chocolate entrepreneurs love that fact that the healthy chocolate market is still 99% open and poised for massive growth.
It is very good to know that the chocolate industry as a whole, and MXI Corp in particular, truly represent a big bright spot in this weak economy.