Now let's move to Hungary where handmade chocolates draw crowds. The craft chocolate boutique opened in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, it belongs to a Syrian confectioner who escaped to Europe because of the war in Syria.

 

These handmade chocolates are drawing crowds to Hungary's capital Budapest. While the craft chocolate boutique was opened recently, its story stretches back 200 years. It belongs to a fourth generation Syrian confectioner - Bassam Ghraoui - who had to leave Damascus three years ago when the war ruined his business. He escaped to Europe and took his craft with him.

 

BASSAM GHRAOUI CEO, GHRAOUI Fine chocolate making is two things together: It is an art of making chocolate, and it is the technology. You need very good machines, but you really need people who know - qualified chocolatiers who know and who are in love with the art of making chocolate.

 

Six Syrian chocolatiers trained 65 employees at Ghraoui's first artisan factory in Hungary. The company is opening a second plant near Budapest where it will create 540 new jobs. For Ghraoui, Hungary is a springboard to the global market. The brand has already claimed some of the most prestigious international awards, defeating competitors from Switzerland and Belgium.

 

BASSAM GHRAOUI CEO, GHRAOUI We are forecasting to produce almost 7,500 tons of chocolate, hopefully we will produce more per year and 95 percent will be exported, so it is a project which will put Hungary on the map of higher-than-average of EU exporters of chocolate.

 

The European Union dominates the chocolate industry with 44 percent of the market share. And while the sector at large has taken a hit in recent years with rising cocoa prices, the odds for Ghraoui seem pretty sweet. According to the International Cocoa Organization, fine cocoa is the fastest growing segments of the industry, as health conscious consumers move away from mass produced bars that tend to have higher levels of sugar. Ghraoui's team says there's also a more romantic reason for its popularity.

 

RANIA ISMAIL DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION, GHRAOUI Chocolate is not only a product, it is more of a declaration of love.

 

The Syrian chocolate brand will be opening its next boutique in France, taking that declaration to the city of love, Paris. Nanuka Danelia, CGTN, Washington.