Chocolate lovers find an oasis

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you are going to get.

But true chocoholics would not agree with this famous quote taken from the Forrest Gump movie because, as long as it's chocolate, will do just fine.

And one box might not be enough, as chocolate lovers have lined up for more than an hour to have their cravings for chocolate satiated at the Jakarta Chocolate Expo 2005 that opened on Thursday.

Visitors -- mostly women -- crowded in front of the Semanggi Expo Hall in South Jakarta to lift their moods with a bite of chocolate.

Everybody seemed to be munching either biscuits, which they dipped into a chocolate fountain that was a feature of the exhibition, or the free treats offered by more than 30 participating confectioners and bakeries.

For chocolate connoisseurs, there are only four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles.

Well, this expo serves them all, including pepper-flavored chocolate -- which would disappoint those expecting a strong tongue-burning sensation -- that its producer claimed was a hit last year in Europe.

Aside from the help-yourself chocolate fountain, a seven-meter tall chocolate castle made from 650 kilograms of chocolate and a life-size chocolate sculpture by renown artist Teguh Ostenrik attracted most of the visitors.

At the three-day event, the organizers will also be holding a chocolate fashion competition for fashion school students as well as a chef's competition.

This third bi-annual expo initiated by Dutch-affiliated chocolate manufacturers PT CERES Bandung and PT Freyabadi Indotama seemed to not only lure chocolate lovers, but also those in the cake business.

"I came all the way from Sukabumi and waited for two hours to see the event," said Mona, who works for a factory that produces chocolate moldings, hoping that the exhibition would give her some insights into current chocolate trends.

Dieter Speer from Tulip Chocolate explained that aside from making the event a trade opportunity for those in chocolate- related business, he aimed to educate people on how far the country's chocolate industry had grown.

"Indonesian chocolate manufacturers can now produce top class Swiss- or French-type chocolates that five-star hotels are using," he said.

His company, one of the largest chocolatemakers in Indonesia, produces annually 9,500 tons of various kinds of chocolate products, of which 40 percent was exported to other Asian countries.

Dieter said that Indonesia should be proud as it was not just the world's third largest cacao producer, but also the fifth largest chocolate manufacturer in the world.

However, several of the largest booths in the expo displayed imported chocolates, and more people seemed to be crowding around those rather than the locally made treats.(003)