Chocolate lovers find an oasis

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)