Belgian chocolate shops on Monday (February 13) prepared for Valentine’s Day with special offers for shoppers and their loved ones.
Heart-shaped red and pink boxes and various kinds of chocolates filled window displays in Brussels.
Mary Chocolatier, a supplier to Belgian royalty, sold three types of chocolate roses – milk, dark and white chocolate – to satisfy its customers’ tastes.
A woman visiting from the U.K., Sandra Sharpe stopped by the shop to get a treat for her mother for the love-filled holiday.
“She’s lovely. She’s always looked out for me, and she’s getting a little bit old now so it’s just nice to give her something special back. It’s only a little rose, I mean it’s not a lot, but it’s just nice to give something back. She’s very special,” Sharpe said.
Couples were making sweet last-minute purchases before the holiday’s start on Tuesday.
Shoppers picked from smaller chocolate hearts costing about four euros to larger boxes of chocolates priced between 20 and 40 euros.
According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, over 2.5 billion tons of chocolate were eaten in the EU, Norway and Switzerland in 2014.
Italian couple Sabrina Maglao and Paolo Maltilani said Valentine’s Day was a good occasion to show their love, and eat chocolate.
“Because we can celebrate our love. He can buy me a present and I can eat chocolate,” shopper Sabrina Maglao said.
With an annual production of 650,000 tons and a turnover of four billion euros in 2014, chocolate and praline production is a significant part of Belgium’s economy.
According to Belgian chocolate industry body Choprabisco, the country’s 256 chocolate makers provided jobs to 7619 people in 2014, representing 10.9 % of jobs in the Belgian food production sector.
(REUTERS)
