Dear listeners, Hello!

Today, I will discuss a topic closely related to our daily life - the cost of producing and selling a piece of chocolate.

In recent years, the sales of chocolate products have been increasing year by year. Today, we will delve into the journey of a chocolate bar from the farm to the consumer's hands and the cost percentages attributed to each step.

First, let's take a look at this pie chart. It breaks down the cost of a chocolate bar into various components: 7% for purchasing cocoa beans from farms, 6% for transporting the beans from farms to factories, 8% for processing the beans into cocoa butter and cocoa powder, 35% for the manufacturing process, and a significant 44% for retailing and taxes.

Next, we'll go through the possible reasons for each cost segment.

The cost of purchasing cocoa beans from farms, though only accounting for 7%, marks the starting point of chocolate production. From harvesting to sending the beans to factories, several steps are involved, including harvesting, pod breaking, fermentation, drying, and shipping.

The cost of transporting cocoa beans from farms to factories accounts for 6%. This might include expenses for transportation, storage, and insurance. Since cocoa beans are tropical crops, their origins are often distant from chocolate manufacturing factories, leading to higher transportation costs. Additionally, losses and delays during transportation can also affect the overall cost.

Processing cocoa beans into cocoa butter and cocoa powder takes up 8% of the cost. This process involves sorting, roasting, grinding, and other steps, requiring significant labor and resources.

The manufacturing process of chocolate bars accounts for 35% of the cost. The complex steps involved in chocolate production, such as mixing, conching, tempering, molding, cooling, demolding, and packaging, as well as the significant consumption of water and electricity, contribute to this high cost.

Finally, we come to the retailing and taxation segment, which accounts for the largest proportion of 44%. This is primarily due to the involvement of retailers in selling chocolates, who might have to cover expenses like store rent, employee salaries, advertising fees, shipping costs, storage, and taxes.

In conclusion, we can see that producing and selling a chocolate bar involves multiple steps. The cost of each step contributes to the final price of the product.

Thank you all for listening!