6 Minute English / Chocolate: Meet a real Willy Wonka

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Neil.

And I m Beth.

In Britain, millions of kids grow up reading the books of Roald Dahl. Before his death in 1990, Roald Dahl wrote over thirty children s books, including bestsellers like Matilda and The BFG. But one book in particular is many people s favourite - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Ah yes, I remember the story of Charlie Bucket the poor kid whose luck turns around when he wins a Golden Ticket to the local chocolate factory. The factory is run by the mysterious Willy Wonka who invents all kinds of sweets and chocolates for the children to try everything from strawberry-coated fudge to marshmallow pillows. Neil, I really wanted to visit that chocolate factory.

If that story sounds familiar then maybe, as a kid, you also dreamed of tasting chocolate for a living. But in this programme we ll be meeting a real life Willy Wonka, someone whose job involves exactly that inventing and tasting chocolate bars! And, as usual, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary too.

Helle Anttila has the kind of job most people can only dream of. Helle is head of research and development at Fazer, a confectionary company in Finland which has been making and selling chocolate for over 130 years. Helle is responsible for buying the cocoa beans used to make chocolate, and coming up with ideas for new chocolate products to sell. So, my question for you, Neil, is this: what is Britain s best-selling chocolate bar? Is it:

a) KitKat?b) Snickers? or,c) Mars?

Hmm, well, I m going to guess that it s KitKat.

OK, Neil, I ll reveal the correct answer at the end of the programme. With over 6,000 employees, Fazer is Finland s largest chocolate maker. Just like Willy Wonka, Helle and her team think up new and exciting chocolate products. Here Helle explains more to Ruth Alexander for BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain: