Bitter sweet success for Venezuelan chocolate - 19 May 2008

Al Jazeera's Lucrecia Franco reports from Venezuela, on how the chocolate industry is becoming a new battleground. As left-wing nationalism spreads across Latin America, foreign companies there are having to rethink their business strategies. Willie Harcourt-Cooze, a British entrepreneur who has been dubbed Willy Wonka after the fictional character, is using Venezuelan cacao beans to make a highly sought-after chocolate. Harcourt-Cooze boasted that his South American plantation produces "the finest, rarest and most expensive cacao in the world". However, his success has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Hugo Chavez, the country's president. Chavez has ordered an investigation into his export business.

Author: AlJazeeraEnglish
Length: 02:29
Views: 7939
Tags: al  cacao  chocolate  cooze  english  franco  harcourt  jazeera  lucrecia  venezuela  willie