Chocolate consumption reached heady heights during the Covid pandemic as consumers comforted themselves at home with sweets and treats. But sales melted away in 2022 thanks to last summer’s blisteringly hot weather, so how is the chocolate category doing today?
Like everyone else, chocolate manufacturers are having to deal with inflationary hikes, in their case, in raw materials and energy costs which has resulted in price increases. So it’s a case of value sales up but volume sales down. Some brands have been particularly pilloried in the press. Galaxy is a case in point, with The Sun screaming that consumers are furious with the price rises across the brand. Likewise Mondelez has been criticised for shrinking the size of its packs of Cadbury Dairy Milk Giant Buttons but not the prices of those packs.
Despite all this, chocolate remains an affordable treat for many consumers – a little something to brighten up a dull day or week.
Thankfully most forecourt stores have not been hit by the HFSS rules and can still tempt shoppers with chocolatey treats while they queue to pay for their fuel. And manufacturers are still tempting them with limited editions.
“On-trend and relevant new flavours are a key growth driver in chocolate, accounting for 28% of category growth and attracting incremental younger adult consumers,” explains Susan Nash, trade communications manager at Mondelēz. “Whether it’s salted or caramelised white, caramel is the number one best-selling chocolate flavour. We’ve rolled out several exciting new creations in this flavour to help retailers cater to this growing consumer trend across various formats, price points and occasions.”
Cadbury’s latest limited-edition is Wispa Gold Salted Caramel. With salted caramel a top five NPD flavour in chocolate, Nash says the new bars are delivering value to the singles category as well as excitement to retailers’ ranges.
Golden glow
Nestlé has taken some of its most popular brands – Aero, Milkybar, Munchies and Smarties – and given them a golden twist.
Leading the new line-up is Aero, with two new products – Aero Golden Honeycomb Melts sharing bag (rrp £1.75) and Aero Golden Honeycomb block (rrp £1.25).
Meanwhile, Munchies Gold Sharing bag (rrp £1.75) sees the brand made with Caramac, while new Smarties Gold Buttons (rrp £1.75) are also made with Caramac and are caramel flavour buttons filled with mini Smarties.
Milkybar chocolate has been given a caramel flavour twist to create new Milkybar Gold Buttons sharing bag (rrp £1.75) and Milkybar Gold block (rrp £1.25).
Amy Bennett-Inge, brand manager at Nestlé said: “We’ve taken some of the flavours we know fans love best – caramel and honeycomb – and applied our chocolate-making wizardry to create new taste sensations. We can’t wait for people to try them!”
Duos deliver growth
The Duos format has been a big success story for Cadbury. According to Nielsen stats, the total duos market is growing by +11.1% ahead of singles and, in addition to this, Cadbury brand owner Mondelez says the format offers a unique selling point. Its latest research reveals that shoppers are not only choosing duos for themselves but are also sharing them with loved ones, which taps into the sharing occasions category.
Mondelez recently expanded its Duos range with the launch of Twirl Xtra, rrp 80p. The company says this launch helps retailers demonstrate more value to their shoppers.
View Kidsanapun, Duos lead at Mondelēz, says: “We know that big brands in the duos category perform well as consumers are looking for brands they love in this format, so bringing Cadbury’s best-selling single into the Duos range was a no-brainer.
“Our research shows that more than half of consumers specifically mention the word ‘value’ when talking about duos, which makes Twirl Xtra an attractive proposition for retailers looking to show value to their more price-conscious customers.”
Last year, Mondelez rolled out twist wrap packaging across the Cadbury Duos range, enabling consumers to eat half, twist to seal and save half for later. The new packaging is made using a memory technology solution, meaning the wrapper stays twisted by a single twist preserving fresh flavour, texture and shape.
Ritter revolution
Ritter Sport reports that its chocolate is going from strength to strength in the UK market, with around 2.5 million households now buying the product (Nielsen) and the brand enjoying its eighth consecutive year of growth. Value growth is up 11.6%, ahead of a total tablet/block chocolate sector down -4.5% (Nielsen) and last year the brand grew in every segment of its portfolio and achieved notable distribution gains.
Last year Ritter Sport added Chocolate Orange to its block range and it fast became one of the brand’s best sellers.
Following that launch comes the introduction of Delightfuls into the gifting market. Benedict Daniels, managing director at Ritter Sport UK and Ireland, says its launch responds to consumer demand for both ‘taste’ and ‘texture’.
Drawing on Ritter Sport’s UK-specific flavour set, which includes Milk, Nut and Caramel, each gift box contains 22 pieces of Ritter Sport’s 100% certified, sustainably sourced chocolate in four individually wrapped flavours. Choco-Crisp’s chunky cubes are crispy and crunchy bites, smothered in milk chocolate; Caramel offers two caramel layers encased in milk chocolate; Whole Nut delivers whole, crunchy hazelnut wrapped in a milk chocolate cube; and Praline provides a praline encased in milk chocolate.
Says Daniels: “Mintel reports that chocolate is by far the most popular food item to buy as a gift; 79% of people who bought food as a gift purchased chocolate in the 12 months to April 2022. Token gifts under a few pounds are great impulse buy drivers and perfect for consumers looking for low-cost gifts in particular. Ritter Sport’s new Delightfuls provides consumer excitement in the gifting category while offering a brand extension from its success in block, reaching consumers on a gifting shopping mission.”
Daniels reports that the brand’s best-selling products are from its Ritter Sport Nut Selection range. “Whole Hazelnut in milk, dark and white chocolate, Honey Salted Almond in milk chocolate and Cashew in milk chocolate are all immensely popular, iconic even, and have driven a significant amount of the business growth over the last three years.”
This year, the brand will launch a range of Vegan block chocolate bars with vegan-friendly on-trend flavours that Daniels says will really deliver on the taste and quality customers have come to expect from Ritter Sport.
Making an impact
One chocolate brand that is making an impact on the industry and fast finding space on retailers’ shelves is Tony’s Chocolonely. Indeed, Tony’s Chocolonely describes is an “impact company” that makes chocolate.
The company was founded in 2005 by three journalists from the Dutch TV show ‘Keuringsdienst van Waarde’ after they discovered that the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers were buying cocoa from plantations that used child labour and modern slavery.
Since then, Tony’s Chocolonely has dedicated itself to raising awareness of and eliminating inequality in the chocolate industry. It says it leads by example, building direct, long-term relationships with cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, paying them a higher price and working with them to solve the underlying causes of modern slavery and child labour.
The company wants to inspire the industry as a whole to make 100% slave free the norm in chocolate. It believes that being a better business should be the norm, not the exception. The brand has grown to become one of the market leaders in the Netherlands and its bars are now available almost worldwide, with teams in the Netherlands, USA, UK, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Sweden.
Tony’s Chocolonely recently joined forces with ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s to launch two limited edition products. The two Tony’s bars are inspired by two of Ben & Jerry’s classic flavours: Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Strawberry Cheesecake.
The bars joined Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavour, Chocolatey Love A-Fair, a flavour that launched last summer and was inspired by Tony’s best-selling milk caramel sea salt bar.
From the USA
Hancocks’ American confectionery line-up includes Junior Mints, which are chocolate covered fondant mini sweets. They come in American Theatre Boxes, which are slim cardboard boxes that are popular in the States, particularly at movie theatres. Hancocks says the boxes work well in stores when merchandised as a sharing or gifting option.
Other top-selling theatre boxes among chocolate fans are Cookie Dough Red Velvet Bites, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites and Fudge Brownie Cookie Dough Bites.
Kathryn Hague, head of marketing at Hancocks, says: “During the last year, demand for American sweets has skyrocketed in the UK among customers. Many are seeking out American sweets for something new and exciting, with many also choosing to gift American confectionery as it seems more exciting than other well-known British options.”
She advises retailers to make sure the products are displayed well to maximise sales and appeal to customers visually. “Making sure stands for promotional products are in a visible location will make it easier for shoppers to find what they’re looking for,” she says.
