Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland • Hacker News Board

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#371

Post by 1MachineElf » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 4:57 AM UTC

saiya-jin wrote: post #269

1MachineElf wrote: post #193

Having worked in Whole Foods and been surrounded by family who prefer organic, free/fair type foods, I must say I do understand there is a market for the chocolates we usually see marketed as non-European. There's an emphasis on dark chocolate, "artisanal blends" with spices, etc. The kind of chocolate people pay extra for because they think it's special, then don't touch because they paid extra for and want to prese…

As for Lindt, milk and white chocolates are rather small portion of their portfolio [1], and at least here in Switzerland it looks accordingly in the shops - these 'artisanal' types take 80-90% of the shelves and overall are bought more than basic milk/white ones. Personally, these days if I buy then only dark one with sea salt. Fun fact - there is stark difference between Lindt made in Switzerland and the ones made…

I love just about everything made by Lindt, with the exception of the products of their that I haven't tried yet.

The dark one with sea salt is especially enticing, but I avoid it as well dark chocolate in general, because of the higher stimulant content. It makes me wonder how much of dark chocolate's growing popularity has to do with the stimulants it contains. As I tried to elude to by mentioning my prior experience at Whole Foods, I have broad exposure to different foods, i.e. I really do understand how satisfying a bag of bitter raw cocoa nibs can be. I j

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#372

Post by 1MachineElf » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 5:08 AM UTC

samatman wrote: post #270

1MachineElf wrote: post #193

Having worked in Whole Foods and been surrounded by family who prefer organic, free/fair type foods, I must say I do understand there is a market for the chocolates we usually see marketed as non-European. There's an emphasis on dark chocolate, "artisanal blends" with spices, etc. The kind of chocolate people pay extra for because they think it's special, then don't touch because they paid extra for and want to prese…

I might have a bad attitude about people's food preferences as well, if I had worked at Whole Foods. I assure you, a bar of dark chocolate with "fancy" spices has never expired in my pantry. The Swiss stuff is ok, if your palate reached maturity at seven years old†. † this is not my actual opinion. I'm ribbing you.

Thanks. I think there is a very real point to be made, that Americans tend to have a narrow palate due to exposure to fewer varieties of foods and exposure to primarily processed foods.

Someone else here mentioned Lindt. Their Lindor truffles are often on sale in CVS Pharmacy and similar locations in the US. These treats are very popular, and people really enjoy them because of the pseudo chocolate ganache in the center. Real chocolate ganache is made with butter, which isn't so common in Africa. Less availability of butter in Africa leads me to think that we won't see chocolate ganache-inspired products coming from Africa. The hotter weather of the continent makes me wonder if chocolate meant to melt in your mouth like ganache-inspired products will really take off there. Of course I would like to be surprised here, but I will just keep buying the Swiss stuff until then.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#373

Post by 1MachineElf » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 5:20 AM UTC

reducesuffering wrote: post #261

1MachineElf wrote: post #193

Having worked in Whole Foods and been surrounded by family who prefer organic, free/fair type foods, I must say I do understand there is a market for the chocolates we usually see marketed as non-European. There's an emphasis on dark chocolate, "artisanal blends" with spices, etc. The kind of chocolate people pay extra for because they think it's special, then don't touch because they paid extra for and want to prese…

> "I prefer European-style chocolate. Milk chocolate. White chocolate. They're much richer" And also much unhealthier. They contain copious amounts of added, refined sugar. Cocoa can be healthy given it's nutrient profile, but only outweighs the damage added sugar causes if the chocolate is >90% cacao.

You make a very fair point about the sugar content, and I should give it weight because I am predisposed to diabetes due to genetic factors, however, have you considered the negative effects of the higher stimulant content in "dark" chocolate? I feel that a sugar addiction is easier to manage than an addiction to cocoa's theobromine, caffiene, phenylethylamine, and pheobromine. Even if I was in ketosis, I would avoid cocoa nibs just because the stimulant effects seem more disruptive than they're worth.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#374

Post by majgr » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 5:48 AM UTC

leto_ii wrote: post #281

oblio wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So the book argues that when developing countries are pressured into free trade agreements This should have been obvious since the Opium Wars and the Opening of Japan (see Commodore Matthew Perry). All developed countries are pro free trade for markets where they are strong and fiercely protectionist where they are not (or they consider those markets strategic priorities). I'm from Romania. Romania joined the EU in…

Also a Romanian here. My take is similar to yours, but I would go even further in saying that the 90s were even more catastrophic in terms of privatization and liberalization. Remember the 'shock therapy' years? Prices doubling every few months? Entire industries collapsing, prized factories being sold for scrap metal? Millions losing their jobs etc. - a lot of that stuff didn't have to happen that way. A lot of it w…

In Poland some share similar sentiment, but it was better to get rid of of all these inflexible, low quality companies than providing them with life support. Problem was with management and technology. You would need to get rid of whole management hierarchy, and at that time there was nobody who could replace it. Some relicts from communism still lingers here and there, for 30 years after fall of communism unable to turn profit. Or corrupted managers moving ideas or technologies to “friendly” companies outside. If you allowed these companies to exist there would be a more chance for forming oligarchies like in Ukraine, instead of that we have more robust middle class.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#375

Post by justinclift » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:01 AM UTC

klipklop wrote: post #308

Nimitz14 wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uuh have you not heard of xiaomi or oneplus? They're already creating high value goods.

Indeed. My 4 year old Oneplus phone taught me that China can make a phone just as good as anyone else. It's a quality product and was at a great price. With that said, my next phone will be an iPhone. I am trying to de-china whenever I can when it comes to buying stuff.

> With that said, my next phone will be an iPhone. I am trying to de-china whenever I can when it comes to buying stuff.

Isn't Apple extremely well known for it's production lines being in China?

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#376

Post by refurb » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:41 AM UTC

m12k wrote: post #15

I'm reading the book The Divide at the moment. It makes the argument that it takes time and the right conditions to build up an industry - infrastructure needs to be built, education and a skilled labor pool with the necessary know-how as well. To begin with, a fledgling industry in a developing country cannot compete with those of already industrialized countries - these are already so effective that they can underc…

Singapore developed very rapidly despite opening themselves up to international trade quite early.

The only competitive advantage Singapore had was rule of law and stability.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#377

Post by refurb » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:47 AM UTC

zz865 wrote: post #160

oblio wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So the book argues that when developing countries are pressured into free trade agreements This should have been obvious since the Opium Wars and the Opening of Japan (see Commodore Matthew Perry). All developed countries are pro free trade for markets where they are strong and fiercely protectionist where they are not (or they consider those markets strategic priorities). I'm from Romania. Romania joined the EU in…

I'm from a country where there are several locally owned supermarkets. They're all very nice but eye wateringly expensive. I'd love if Aldi/Carrefour/Costco moved in.

This. People in the US love to talk about how sad it is when mom and pop groceries stores close but people are just voting with their wallets.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#378

Post by newswasboring » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:55 AM UTC

nytgop77 wrote: post #299

newswasboring wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> See how TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung are free to buy ASMLs EUV machines, while China is blocked. Part of that is due to their rampant IP theft. Why sell machines to China if they're just going to copy them? You seem a bit misinformed. ASML CEO has repeatedly showed extreme desire to sell in china (it already comprises the fastest growing DUV market)[1]. It's the american pressure, indirectly or directly exerted which…

fact remains, that there are dificlties.

Are you a troll? The difficulty is clearly not coming from chinese IP theft but american fear.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#379

Post by hnaln » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:57 AM UTC

Robotbeat wrote: post #350

thereddaikon wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny you say that because exactly the opposite thing happened to China. They were completely taken advantage of in the 19th century and didn't fully recover from that until a 100 years later when Nixon and Kissinger in one of their "4D chess" moves restarted diplomatic relations as a way to limit the Soviets. From that point on they had a pretty clever long view policy but it would have been surprising if they hadn'…

A popular revolution in 1989 China would have restored Chinese culture. It was the CCP that squashed it.

> A popular revolution in 1989 China would have restored Chinese culture. It was the CCP that squashed it.

It would have plunged China into a civil war again and there would be millions dead. China would be a worse position now by every metric.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#380

Post by refurb » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 6:58 AM UTC

devdas wrote: post #258

zfs wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the difference between developing and developed countries really the lack of tariffs or is it due to poor governance? I feel like the reason why countries are always so pro-tariff is because the benefits of tariffs go towards a small group of people, whereas the cost of tariffs are diffused. But small costs add-up and if you start applying the tariffs to other industries then you start seeing the impacts in the co…

South Korea. China. The US. The UK. Singapore has pretty much no manufacturing.

Singapore has one of the largest petrochemical refineries in Asia by throughput. It also has a very large pharmaceutical manufacturing base. No doubt there are other industries I don’t know about.