Whose bookkeeping this actually is
A mirror table is other people’s accounting. Every exporting country’s record of what it sent here is added together, and the total stands in for a statement this market never published. The arithmetic is sound; the coverage is not.
A partner that reports late, partially or not at all simply drops out, and every share in the table moves with it. So read what follows as a direction of travel rather than a settled number; it is published because it changes what can honestly be claimed here, not because it is exact.
The chocolate column, and the origin that holds it
Chocolate comes to 13,444,024 US dollars, and it is not merely led by one source — it is very nearly held by one. Belgium accounts for 72.2 per cent of it, Morocco for 6.6, Türkiye for 5.2.
That is not an empty shelf and we will not describe it as one. What a shelf at that concentration lacks is not product but an alternative: a second price to measure the first against, a second lead time to plan around, and somebody else to telephone in the month the first line runs short.
The sweet column, and the three continents behind it
Sugar confectionery comes to 6,500,207 US dollars, and its table looks nothing like the other one. Colombia stands at 40.7 per cent, Morocco at 25.2, India at 8.0 — three continents, and not one neighbour among them.
Behind every one of those is a long sea leg with somebody consolidating loads along it. The useful question on this column is therefore not origin at all, but how many hands stand between the production line and your warehouse, because each of them is priced into the carton.
Third on the smaller share, fourth on the larger
Türkiye sits third in chocolate on 5.17 per cent and fourth in sugar confectionery on 7.07. The rank falls while the share rises, which reads like a misprint and is not.
It is what two differently shaped tables do. A column with one origin at 72.2 per cent leaves a short tail behind it, so a modest share still reaches third place. A column split several ways at the top leaves a crowded middle, where a larger share buys a lower position. The share, not the rank, is the figure worth carrying into a meeting.
The one origin that appears in both columns
Read both lists and a single name turns up twice. Morocco takes 6.6 per cent of the chocolate and 25.2 of the sugar confectionery — a minor line on one shelf, a quarter of the other.
The table cannot tell you whether that is a production base answering two separate orders or a staging point where loads are assembled and sent on, and the difference is yours to care about: one is a maker, the other is a step, and a step is priced in. Put the question to any offer, this one included.
Turning two columns into one container
Neither column argues for a standing monthly programme; both argue for a planned load. One container can mix chocolate, dragées, Turkish delight, wrapped confectionery and spreads in jars from our own factory on one order and one document set, the minimum set per line rather than per container (mixed container).
Send the references you want priced, the format and case weight for each, an indicative quantity and where the container should be handed over. The offer comes back line by line: ingredients and allergens, net weight, case and pallet data and delivery term. Terms are FCA Gaziantep, FOB Mersin, CIF or DAP — Mersin is about three hours from our factory by road (how wework).
How firm are the figures on this page?
They are mirror figures for 2024 and they are labelled as such, because this market does not report its own imports. The 13,444,024 US dollars of chocolate and the 6,500,207 of sugar confectionery are what the rest of the world recorded as shipments here, added together, so a partner reporting late or partially moves every share in the table. Read the ranking as a direction, not as a settled total.
One origin holds nearly three quarters of the chocolate. Why look at a second one?
Not to replace it. A shelf fed at 72.2 per cent from a single origin is comfortable until the month it is short or the price moves, and then there is nothing standing behind it. A second source is held for that month, which is why it is judged on route, documentation and what is written down rather than on being a little cheaper. Türkiye is already third in that column at 5.17 per cent, so the origin is not a trial for your clearing agent.
Can you supply the sweet column the way it arrives today?
Partly, and it is better to be exact than eager. Dragées and coated nuts, Turkish delight, jellies and wrapped confectionery are in the range and are quoted per line, with case weight and format stated. Couverture, bulk chocolate by the kilo, raw nuts, dried fruit, cocoa, halva, tahini and baklava sit outside it: sourced on request, and we confirm composition and format before quoting. Acoating made with vegetable fat is named as compound on the pack, the technical data sheet and the price list, never as chocolate.
