BBC Learnings · Section 11

Should we pay more for chocolate

How many of our listeners, Neil, do you think love chocolate? Well, I can't think of anyone who doesn't love chocolate.

Level: B1 · 103 sentences

Transcript

  1. How many of our listeners, Neil, do you think love chocolate?
  2. Well, I can't think of anyone who doesn't love chocolate.
  3. I know I certainly do.
  4. Yes, I thought you might say that,
  5. having seen your mid-morning snack most days.
  6. That's true. I do love a bit of dark chocolate.
  7. Do you know, I really like the one
  8. that's got some chilli in it.
  9. What's your favourite, Becca?
  10. Oh, I also love dark chocolate,
  11. but chilli's a bit spicy for me.
  12. I like it with sea salt.
  13. Mmm, that's also good.
  14. But now to the stuff that makes chocolate possible – cocoa,
  15. a key ingredient, and it's become more expensive in recent years.
  16. Now a new EU law could make chocolate even more expensive.
  17. Today we'll talk about how this law could change things
  18. for farmers, companies and chocolate lovers,
  19. as discussed on the recent BBC World Service programme, Business Daily.
  20. Europeans are big fans of chocolate, just like us.
  21. Around how many tonnes of cocoa beans
  22. were imported to Europe in 2023?
  23. Was it a 500,000 tonnes,
  24. b 2 million tonnes, or c 10 million tonnes?
  25. Well, I have no idea,
  26. but I'm just going to guess and say 500,000 tonnes.
  27. We'll find out if you're right later on.
  28. Now, that new EU law that we were talking about earlier
  29. would stop companies buying cocoa from land
  30. where any trees were cut down in the last six years.
  31. The process of cutting down trees is called deforestation.
  32. Albert Smith, who owns a small chocolate business,
  33. believes that the new law wouldn't change too much for his company.
  34. We have all the information on farm level already.
  35. Because the producers that we work with
  36. are small plantations that either work through a co-op
  37. or a social enterprise.
  38. And all of our cocoa is already traced back to the plantation.
  39. Albert adds that they already know where the cocoa beans come
  40. from as they work with farmers from co-ops or social enterprises.
  41. A co-op in this case is a farm owned by its workers.
  42. A social enterprise is a business
  43. that wants to help the community.
  44. Because of working with farmers who are part of these organisations,
  45. Albert says that the cocoa they buy
  46. can already be traced back to the farms.
  47. To trace something back to something means
  48. to find out where something has come from.
  49. Here's Albert Smith again.
  50. Mapping means that farmers have to actually provide
  51. the geolocations of their plantation.
  52. And you know, for some farmers that are very remote,
  53. that comes also with a challenge.
  54. Albert suggests that giving a geolocation is difficult
  55. for some farmers as they live in remote places
  56. and don't all have mobile phones.
  57. Geolocation is data taken from a special device
  58. which shows exactly where something is.
  59. And the term remote means at a large distance
  60. from places where other people live.
  61. Because of these changes, the price of chocolate
  62. might go up even more, meaning that chocolate lovers like us
  63. could really notice the difference in our bank accounts.
  64. Reporter Matthew Kenyon asked a chocolate lover on the street
  65. if they would pay more for their chocolate.
  66. Absolutely I would do that because I think
  67. the normal chocolates are way too cheap.
  68. Definitely we have to pay more because the money will go
  69. to the local people to give them a better life,
  70. also to tackle deforestation.
  71. And he asked another chocolate lover about whether he looks at
  72. where the cocoa beans come from.
  73. For me personally, absolutely not, out of principle,
  74. because I want them to be produced as most efficiently as possible.
  75. The cost is completely irrelevant. OK.
  76. But on principle, I want production to
  77. be as efficient as possible.
  78. Otherwise, it's a waste of everybody's time.
  79. Mixed opinions, it seems there, Becker.
  80. Whilst one chocolate lover would pay more for
  81. chocolate to support farmers and production,
  82. the other doesn't worry too much about the cost,
  83. but says the production process should be as efficient as possible.
  84. OK, time to answer our quiz question.
  85. Earlier I asked you how many tonnes of cocoa
  86. were imported to Europe in 2023
  87. and you said 500,000 tonnes.
  88. Well, Neil, I'll tell you it is 2 million tonnes.
  89. Wow. Well, I was wrong and that really is a lot.
  90. Between us, we've probably eaten a few tonnes already this year.
  91. At least, Becca.
  92. I'd be interested to know what kind of chocolate our listeners enjoy.
  93. Me too, and whether they would be happy to pay more
  94. for their favourite chocolate bar.
  95. OK, let's recap some of the vocabulary from this programme.
  96. Deforestation is the process of cutting down trees.
  97. We heard co-op, which is a farm owned by its workers.
  98. A social enterprise is a business that wants to help the community.
  99. To trace something back to something is to find out where something's come from.
  100. Geolocation is data taken from a device
  101. which can show you exactly where a person or thing is.
  102. And finally, remote means at a large distance
  103. from places where other people live.