13% Growth in Iran's Pastry, Chocolate Exports

Iran exported 448,000 tons of pastry and chocolate worth $678 million during the 11 months to Feb. 19, registering a 13% growth compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
Secretary of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's Pastry, Chocolate, and Cereal Products Desk Gholamreza Sabz-Ali said TPO is targeting $1 billion in the export of pastry and chocolate in the current Iranian year (March 2019-20).  
According to the official, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the UAE and Qatar were the main customers of Iranian pastry and chocolate during the period.
Iraq was the top export destination with $375 million followed by Afghanistan with $134 million, the official website of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran reported.
Referring to figures from International Trade Center, Sabz-Ali noted that Iran exports pastries and chocolates to 80 countries and is the world’s 30th exporter in this regard.
Iran exported more than $1 million worth of Sohan, a traditional Persian saffron brittle toffee made in Iran, during the same period mainly to Iraq, the UAE, Lebanon, Qatar, the Netherlands, Sweden and the US.
Sweets and chocolate account for 0-40% of Iran’s total food exports.
According to Secretary of Iranian Pastry and Chocolate Association, Jamshid Maghazei, Iran’s pastry and chocolate production capacity stands at 2.5 million tons per year, while actual production is around 1.6 million tons per year.
Some 70% of the machinery used in Iran's chocolate and pastry industry are provided domestically.