e total imports for 1918 were 42,390 tons.
This sudden and marked drop in the amount imported was due to shortage
of shipping. There were, however, large quantities of cacao in stock,
and the amount consumed showed a marked advance on previous years, being
61,252 tons.

The Board of Trade Returns for 1919 are as follow:

CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO UNITED KINGDOM.

_From_
British West Africa 72,886 tons
British West Indies 13,219 tons
Ecuador 9,153 tons
Brazil 3,665 tons
Ceylon 903 tons
Other Countries 13,820 tons
------------
Total 113,646 tons
------------
Home Consumption 64,613 tons

It will be noted that the import of British cacao is over 75 per cent.
of the total.

Before the war about half the cacao imported into the United Kingdom was
grown in British possessions. During the war more and more British cacao
was imported, and now that a preferential duty of seven shillings per
hundredweight has been given to British Colonial growths we shall
probably see a still higher percentage of British cacao consumed in the
United Kingdom.

VALUE OF CACAO BEANS IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM (TO NEAREST
L1,000).

Total value of Cacao From British Possessions.
Year. Beans Imported. _Value._ _Per cent._
1913 L2,199,000 L1,158,000 52.7
1914 L2,439,000 L1,204,000 49.4
1915 L5,747,000 L3,546,000 61.7
1916 L6,498,000 L4,417,000 68.0
1917 L3,498,000 L3,010,000 86.0
1918 L3,040,000 L2,549,000 83.8
1919 L9,207,000 L6,639,000 72.1

That the consumption of cacao is expected to grow greater yet in the
immediate future is reflected in the prices of raw cacao, which, as soon
as they were no longer fixed by the Government, rose rapidly, thus Accra
cacao rose from 65s. per hundredweight to over 90s. per hundredweight in
a few weeks, and now (January, 1920) stands at 104s. (See diagram p.
113).

_World Consumption._

The world's consumption of cacao is steadily rising. Before the war the
United States, Germany, Holland, Great Britain, France, and Switzerland
were the principal consumers. Whilst we have increased our consumption,
so that Great Britain now occupies second place, the United States has
outstripped