Europe Loves Cocoa Beans
Community Challenge Makeover Monday 2020 Week 52:
My redesign (Tableau File Here):
Original Visualization:
Reading time: 1 min 23 secs
Why Europe dominates global cocoa imports:
The EU is the world's largest importer of cocoa beans by a wide margin. After reviewing import data from the Centre for the Promotion of Imports (CBI), the story that stood out most clearly was Europe's outsized appetite for cocoa relative to every other region. The majority of those beans come from West Africa, with Ivory Coast and Ghana as the dominant suppliers.
Cocoa beans are the raw material for chocolate production, and Europe is home to many of the world's largest chocolate manufacturers. Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium consistently rank among the top cocoa-importing countries, with the Netherlands serving as a major processing and transit hub due to the port of Amsterdam.
The demand is not just large, it is consistent. European chocolate production represents a significant share of global output, meaning import volumes hold relatively steady year over year even as prices fluctuate.
The visualization shows global cocoa bean import volumes, with Europe's share making the regional dominance immediately clear.
Discussion
Makeover Monday 2020 Week 52 challenge's topic is Global Import of Cocoa Beans. The source of the data is the Centre for the Promotion of Imports (CBI). After I reviewed the data, my viz's focus was Europe Loves Cocoa Beans, since the EU has the highest levels of cocoa bean imports.
Goals
Complete the challenge
Add a picture to a viz as a background
“The European Union produced an estimated 6.5 million tonnes of chocolate products in 2018.”
Project Discussion
Challenges
Placing a picture as a background of a viz is not hard. Getting the charts to look good with an image was a bit more of a challenge. Having a picture as part of your viz does make it more eye-catching, but the blending between the picture and the viz could be better. If I were to try this again, I would use a white background viz or make a transparent area blended with the edge of the image as a gradient.
Design Discussion
Since the image use had a dark background, the chart/viz also needed a black background. This design decision influenced the color choice for the bar chart. Using an image also limited the area where a viz could be easily placed, limiting the chart's complexity.
Final Thoughts
Adding an image does create a bit more eye candy on the viz. I learn a few things about the selection of a picture that I will carry forward:
select a simpler image to reduce the competition with the viz/data
use a white background or dark image with a transparent gradient to make the transition from picture to viz not as dramatic
use a smaller image, i.e.just a corner
I like that the viz has eye candy, and I also learned that I prefer a more minimalistic design approach. I like designs that have white space and breathing room. I achieved the goal I set for myself by using the background image. I learned a few ways to use a background image better and items to consider when using the future concept.
What do you think? Let me know - Contact Me
Links & Additional Information
Challenge Information
Original Article/Data Source: What is the demand for cocoa on the European market?
Challenge Link: Makeover Monday 2020 Week 52:Global Import of Cocoa Beans
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