Leading chocolate expo coming to Shanghai

One of world's major chocolate expos "Salon du Chocolat", also known as the Paris Chocolate Show, will come to China for the first time in 2022, said exhibition company Sinoexpo Informa Markets on Wednesday.

The company said it has reached an exclusive agreement with ChocoLoco International SA, owner of the expo brand, to hold the event in China.

The chocolate expo will be held together with the FHC Shanghai Global Food Expo at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from Nov 8 to 10, 2022.

The expo has been held in Paris annually since it was founded in 1995. The event has been held in 34 cities in 17 countries over the past two decades.

The Shanghai edition will be attended by exhibitors such as cocoa bean growers, chocolate manufacturers, traders, distributors, trainers and packaging providers.

Competitions such as World Chocolate Master, World Pastry Award and Cacao Producer Country Excellence are also expected to be staged during the Shanghai edition, according to Sinoexpo Informa Markets.

Fan Haiyan, deputy general manager of the company, said the SDC in Shanghai will retain all the features from the Paris edition, including the categories of exhibits, the apparel presentation and the decoration style.

"We will also feature Chinese culture at this expo by introducing Chinese domestic brands to make it more localized," Fan added.

According to a report by Cyanhill Capital, the size of the chocolate market in China in 2019 was worth about 30 billion yuan ($4.63 billion).

"I haven't realized how big the Chinese market is before I came here," said Simon Dugge, representative of VGAN chocolate. "Chocolate in China is no longer seen as a souvenir or holiday gift, but a consumer good."

Fan Xuehan contributed to this story.