According to Kaveh Zargaran, the head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture's Agriculture Commission, Iran produced 1.7 million tons of pastry and chocolates last year.
Iran has 350 chocolate and pastry production units, IRIB News reported.
Iranian pastry and chocolate industry is one of the oldest in the country and has currently generated 400,000 direct jobs, according to Financial Tribune.
According to Fereydoon Doroudi, a board member of Iranian Confectionery Industries Union, all investments in this industry have been made by the private sector.
Iran’s pastry and chocolate industry has a turnover of $2 billion per year.
In an interview with the Persian daily Donya-e-Eqtesad, Secretary of Iranian Pastry and Chocolate Association Jamshid Maghazei said Iran exports its chocolate and pastry to 66 countries.
Iraq and Afghanistan are major export destinations. Other buyers include the US, Japan, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and European countries, especially those in Eastern Europe.
The industry’s nameplate production capacity stands at 2.4 million tons.
According to Maghazei, per capita consumption of pastry and chocolate in Iran is 21 kilograms per annum.
Pastry and chocolate account for 30-40% of Iran’s total food exports, according to Secretary of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's Pastry, Chocolate and Cereal Products Desk Gholamreza Sabz-Ali.
About 70% of the machinery used in Iran's chocolate and pasty industry are supplied domestically.
About 50% of Iran’s biscuits and chocolates are produced in the city of Tabriz located in East Azarbaijan Province.