We’ve got and we will have a global shortage of chocolates due to the difficulty of encouraging cocoa farming on a global scale. West Africa, the largest producer of the crop is having serious weather problems. The price of cocoa, one of the main ingredients in chocolate, is at a historic high! Cocoa is the main ingredient in chocolate and cocoa bean production largely determines pricing, trade balance, and future contracts. BMI Research forecasts that prices will trend lower until 2019 as production growth outpaces demand. The World Cocoa Foundation found total production increased by 13 percent in five years, from 4.3 million metric tons in 2008 to 4.8 million metric tons in 2012. This represents an average year-over-year production increase of 3.1 percent.

Have you ever heard of Barry Callebaut? But you surely have tasted this company’s products. It produces chocolate for Cadbury’s owner Mondelez, Hershey, Unilever et al. It was Barry Callebaut’s annual report that sparked the latest round of anxiety about the future of chocolate. It joined other major industry players in bemoaning a 25% hike in cocoa prices – caused partly by the Ebola crisis – and warning of a “potential chocolate shortage by 2020” of as much as 1m tonnes. A positive note on this end would be that people will be much more interested in high-end chocolates. With a limited chocolate supply, people may as well buy the best chocolate available on market.

The Chocaholics want more–

Why eye only chocolate bars or candies?

Demand in Asia is a major source of the growth of sales and is expected to rise to a 22 percent share in the global market by 2019.The remarkable and still growing western taste for chocolate with everything is on the rise and a lot of products are given birth to. You can now find chocolate in increasingly surprising ways – in gourmet savory dishes, vodka and gin and new products, such as the chocolate-covered potato crisps

Image source: https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/ac3f8ca6dc738acc20e13c91d919c112ba7398a5/c=0-0-602-802&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/USATODAY/test/2013/10/31/1383248228000-LaysWavyDipped-FINAL-2-.png

launched in the US in 2013. But perhaps the best example of how chocolate is increasingly infusing a whole category of foods is breakfast cereals. In Hastings, UK one can find at least 23 varieties of cereals containing chocolate. But these cereals are not just marketed to children. In 2014, Nestlé launched a cereal, based on their Toffee Crisp Bar, aiming at the over-35s market.  

Marketing manager Michelle, told the magazine, Grocer that through this they will have an opportunity to delight adult chocolate-cereal lovers with a more mature taste profile.

SWOT analysis of Top Players

SWOT analysis finds Cadbury’s holding 70% of the market share, followed by Nestle (20%), Amul (7%) and other players. Cadbury has closely followed the increasing per capita income policy, it has popularized gift culture in India widely and has been successfully chosen, often, as a substitute to the cultural “mithai” in India. Cadbury’s has launched various products which cater to all customer segments. So, every customer segment has a different price expectation from the products. The smartest moves of Cadbury’s has been this- Perk, a very popular chocolate crunch bar costs about 5-10 INR, where their gourmet product Bournville has a price range of about 85.

Nestle’s promotional tactics stood out from the rest as they tried to attract customers on a family-friendly approach in their confectionery ads- improving nutritional content, failing that they proclaimed to stop advertising their products to children.

Amul has a very strong and extensive distribution and sales network with the largest market penetration in the dairy industry; they too have made products that are of low price, and hence successfully made a breakthrough, targeting rural markets.

Stalled Sales in Legacy Chocolate- Joint Ventures

Consumer tastes are always changing, which means producers have to keep up. That isn’t always easy. FoodIngredientsFirst reports that many legacy chocolate brands are seeking more consolidation among big food makers to boost stalled sales growth. As a result, mergers involving large sums of money are not infrequent. In May, Nestlé announced a joint venture with the U.K.’s R&R ice cream company.

The X Factor

Despite these challenges, there are numerous opportunities for the industry. The demand for healthier alternatives and for premium chocolate (including flavored, single-origin, organic, ethically traded and high-cocoa chocolate) is growing significantly. According to National Confectioners Association, premium chocolate sales grew nearly 11 percent in 2014 compared to a growth rate of 2.9 percent for the chocolate industry as a whole. Sales of dark chocolate, which is said to have health benefits, has boosted surpassingly all over the world.

The Power of the Dark Side

Health trends tend to shy away from the sugary sweet, but this time, rising health awareness is bringing customers to chocolate — particularly dark chocolate containing more than 60% cocoa. Cocoa-rich chocolate possesses a huge amount of antioxidants that can help prevent cardiac disorders and other diseases.

Of the three types of chocolate — dark, milk and white — dark chocolate leads the global market and is expected to stay in its top spot over the next few years. And the health benefits offered by dark chocolate’s high cocoa content is expected to drive the market segment significantly. Premium and dark chocolate are the strongest segments of the market in the United States in terms of growth, though not market share. Unique products and consumption experiences are keeping consumers coming back for more.

Chocolate Franchises on the Surge—

There is an abundance of chocolate franchise opportunities for the interested entrepreneur. Much of the variety comes from niche products such as chocolate drink fountains, premium selections or unique recipes.

Knowing your local market and providing a product or experience that can not be found elsewhere, is the key to finding the right business. Check out a few of the franchises below!

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate: Handmade chocolates made on site. Customers can see it happening! Let us take a look at their gripping video

Kilwin’s Chocolates & Ice Cream: Handmade chocolates, hand-paddled fudge, and original recipe ice cream.

Chocolate Works: Variety! Bin after bin of gourmet chocolates.

Chocolate Apothecary: Chocolate products, a cafe, music and card/gift shop in a unique setting.

Candid Marketing

The top players in the industry have always focussed mightily on innovative and candid marketing. Cadbury’s, while launching Cadbury Bournville, with their tagline “GIVE IN to the DARK” made a Mall activation programme, where Bournville lounges were created in malls and interested consumers tried their product, giving them a real experience of taste. They also incorporated challenges, such as ‘Blindfold tasting’ to guess the variant and some chose to go into the ‘Dark Room’, wherein each person got a new Bournville bar in return.

Watch their candid and dazzling promo video :

An AR Choco-boost

An actual life experience and a fun way to engage your chocolate lovers, giving them what they love is always the best of all marketing techniques.

Cadbury launched its #FreetheJoy Interactive Billboard in 2014 which was an interactive, socially connected poster that brought joy to the whole of UK. This campaign was launched to raise awareness of an on-pack promotion, offering consumers the chance to win whatever brings them joy, made out of Cadbury chocolate. Let’s watch how it came through:

Matthew Williams, the marketing director, said: “Our on-pack promotion is all about triggering the joy reflex, in unexpected, everyday situations. Winning what brings you joy made out of chocolate is a concept with huge appeal, and through these two interactive and engaging stunts we’re bringing it to life in a truly energetic and ‘joyous’ way that only Cadbury can!”

The second stunt, the pop-up Joy Boutique, was opened by Myleene Klass and saw shoes made entirely of Cadbury chocolate crafted by the food artist, Prudence Staite. Sampling staff posed as boutique ‘assistants’ to welcome consumers, with each visitor receiving a promotional Cadbury bar and the chance to tweet a picture of their favourite shoe in store to win a pair themselves! Now, who will not be attracted to such a tactic?

Campaigns– bring together the chocolate lovers!

When Marabou Aladdin Chocolates decided to herald a new kind of chocolate, they took the most innovative of all marketing strategies. Instead of promoting and acquainting people with their new piece of chocolate, they decided to engage the chocoholics in Sweden, giving them the opportunity to vote for their favourite chocolate piece preventing it from going out of the ‘Aladdin Chocolate Box’. They named it “Save Christmas; Save your favorite chocolate”. Aladdin set up a digital polling station on a campaign site where Swedes could vote on their favorite chocolate four weeks before Christmas. Key media and influencers received information about the campaign in advance, and Facebook Pages and Groups were created in order to mobilize fans. Aladdin and Prime also developed an application on Facebook where users could take a personality test and receive a personality analysis based on their favorite praline.The campaign worked. Loyal fans turned out in droves to create films, posters, Groups on Facebook, fan pages, T-shirts and blogs dedicated to their favorite pralines.

Let us watch the video to understand the colossal social and moving impact triggered by the campaign. In four weeks, the campaign resulted in over 380,000 votes and the financial numbers were just as sweet: their sales increasing up to 26.5%, even in the light of heavy competition during Christmas—

Refashioning chocolates & Oh-So-Sweet Packaging

Design agencies have developed a major sweet tooth for packaging. The once humble chocolate bar has become the latest canvas for creatives to experiment with unexpected concepts and show off their design chops.

Since packaging actually has a real impact on how we perceive taste, these examples of chocolate brands must be absolutely delicious. Check them all out below:

Chocolate-Paint

Japanese designer Nendo took inspiration from his own childhood and crafted edible paint tubes for Seibu Department Store, Japan. The chocolate tubes are each filled with a unique flavored syrup and come packaged in a box styled with oil paint sets. Nendo added minimal paper labels so that consumers need not worry about messy fingers and they can hold onto while you indulge.

Image source: https://www.yatzer.com/sites/default/files/article_images/3327/8-chocolate-paint-nendo-yatzer.jpg

Chocolate Books

What’s better than curling up with a good book? Eating a chocolate book, of course! The story of Linvard Bo Lapp and his travelling companion Ephraim Fao is one of discovery. Scouring the globe to unearth the sweetest delicacies of far-away countries, they write down their thoughts and experiences at the end of each long and eventful day – and in these pages, they find the inspiration for their unique chocolate creations. German designers at Studio Chapeaux modeled the Lapp & Fao chocolate bar wrappers after old-fashioned travel journals, featuring custom illustrations reminiscent of Charles Darwin’s specimen sketches. Each “book” features a volume number on the spine and is meant to feel like a “delicious memento” of Lapp & Fao’s travels.

Image source:http://www.studiochapeaux.com/files/studiochapeaux-chocolate-00_1.jpg

Campaigns & videos

image source: https://www.socialsamosa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/twitter-teaser.png

Cadbury as a brand is embarking on a completely new strategy on social media platforms for all of its sub-brands – a social media strategy that goes beyond the number of fans, retweets, and impressions, to build an engaged online community for the longer run.

The fine dark chocolate that emphasized on one having to ‘earn a Bournville’ rather than buy it, ever since its launch in India, is now taking a step back and letting us fall for the 44% cocoa with the ‘not so sweet’ differentiation campaign.

Bournville created a #NotsoSweet campaign, asking users to tweet with it and describe overtly sweet situations around them.  While people tweeted about the sweet habits they witnessed around them, the brand selected a few of them on the go and these were converted into quick 1-minute funny videos.  The brand partnered up with the Schitz en Giggles comedy group and a couple of stand up comedians put up rib-tickling shows.

Let’s watch one such funny & quirky video of a #NotsoSweet campaign:

There is too much distraction all over the net and maintaining the attention span of users is what really counts. Spontaneity in this campaign contributed to the huge success.

Very subtle strategies and creativity, building upon the uniqueness of brands and products is what serves as the base in the long run, amidst thousands of potent competitors. This article incorporates curated strategic developments that can help build your empire over time.

This was an analysis of various modern marketing techniques for your Chocolate industry. if you would like to have a detailed discussion, please get in touch with us at hello@pixelsutra.com. We would be glad to assist you.