TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sept. 11, 2015) -

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DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist within Deutsche Post DHL Group celebrates more than 15 years of transporting various chocolates, chocolate related ingredients and raw materials as part of International Chocolate Day celebrated on Sept. 13. Be it a raw cocoa bean, a bar of chocolate or a specialty rum filled truffle, DHL Global Forwarding provides end-to-end temperature controlled logistics services including trucking, ocean and air freight, warehousing and customs brokerage services delivering chocolate products promptly and safely to their final destination.

"Latin America, home of the cocoa tree, continues to produce high quality beans for fine chocolates and chocolate consumption and in the coming years, there will be a need for reliable transportation with ample industry experience," said Andreas Krueger, head of Ocean Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, Americas. "DHL not only has the consumer sector experience, but also offers reliable service with an extensive global network to help transport these chocolate products with care and responsibility."

As part of DHL's Strategy 2020, a plan concentrated on seizing opportunities in growing sectors and markets, DHL in the Americas has been paying close attention to the consumer market sector, including chocolate, which is projected to grow in the coming years. Chocolate sales in Latin America alone will grow by 31 per cent over the next five years⁽¹⁾. Brazil is currently the region's top cocoa producer, but Ecuador, slated to be the fourth largest producer of cocoa beans by this year, is quickly catching up according to Ecuador's National Cocoa Exporters Association. Other cocoa producing countries in the region include Peru, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Mexico.

By offering ocean and air freight, trucking, temperature controlled warehousing and brokerage services, DHL in the Americas has helped customers transport more than 4,450 TEUS and over 600 full truck loads (FTL) of chocolate products a year, more than 7,000 pallet positions monthly and process an average of 460 customs files per month. To serve consumer customers' specific needs, DHL has established a worldwide community of consumer industry experts, a fully integrated supply chain with streamlined processes for easier monitoring and efficiency and Consumer Competency Centers to manage the end-to-end flow of information, among other services.

"With a large number of shipments transported via the Europe-Americas trade lane and intra-Americas, DHL helps ship from the raw cocoa bean to the finished product, in addition to the machinery to make any chocolate treat," said Jannie Davel, head of Air Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, Americas.

International Chocolate Day was created by the National Confectioners Associations and occurs on the birthday of Milton S. Hershey, the American confectioner, philanthropist and founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company. Aside from shipping the chocolate product, DHL also ships other tasty desserts, such as cookies and candy to different parts of the world.

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DHL - The Logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. DHL's family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 325,000 employees in over 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including e-commerce, technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as "The logistics company for the world."

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 56 billion euros in 2014.

⁽¹⁾ CBSNews.com

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