RIYADH: When asked about her household’s Eid preparations, Fatima frowns.

“Eid means homemade ma’moul,” said the 75-year-old grandmother who remembers when families would gather around on the eve of Eid preparing the tasty date-paste filled cookies.

But nowadays, families are opting out of home-baked tradition and simply buying imported chocolates.

“During Eid the size of chocolate sales in the Kingdom reaches SR200 million,” said Eisa Al-Eisa, general manager for Michel Cluizel, a French chocolate company.

He added that his company has seen a 25 percent increase in sales this year.

He said that some Saudis don’t distinguish between the different qualities of chocolate, which is based on the amount of cocoa used. But others have started to make this distinction, and the more bitter dark chocolates are becoming more popular than they have been in the past. “It is picking up as people are becoming more aware of its healthy effects,” he said.

Indeed, the chocolate we usually eat may be filled with sugar and calories, but studies have suggested that cocoa itself (which is quite bitter in its raw form) has considerable health effects, thanks to epicatechin, a strong cancer-fighting anti-oxidant that may also fight hypertension and other common ailments.

Al-Eisa says that most chocolates in the market have higher amounts of sugars and preservatives and less of the healthy ingredient.

When buying chocolates, Al-Eisa suggests sticking to gourmet products that have high amounts of cocoa and use natural rather than processed sugars.

But if you ask Fatima, she would probably tell you to stick to tradition and make ma’moul instead.