Global market review of premium chocolate forecasts to 2011

Premium chocolate represents a fast-growing and dynamic market in many parts of the world, with global sales having risen by over 18% within the last year. Sales and consumer awareness are both growing for a variety of reasons - these include wider availability of premium chocolate at the retail level and high levels of new product activity. Additionally, more consumers are becoming attracted to dark chocolate on account of its health benefits, while ethical concerns have increased demand for organic and Fairtrade chocolate, all of which tend to be positioned at the premium end of the market.

This is a brand new title from just-food, which focuses on the premium segment, which is attracting much interest from many of the large global players.

The report contains a wealth of market data including historic premium chocolate market values by country, financial stats for the major brands and market forecast trends for all major markets out to 2011.

Chapter 1 Introduction

For the purposes of this report, premium chocolate is generally defined as different from mainstream offerings on account of factors such as craftsmanship, price, ingredients, cocoa origin and marketing/promotion (including the type of packaging used). Regarding price, a number of different sub-categories are emerging as the overall premium chocolate market develops - for example, what might be termed as 'everyday gourmet chocolate is typically lower in price than products classed as 'super-premium, which are much less affordable and represent a much less frequent purchase as a result.

Chapter 2 Global market overview

The global market for premium chocolate was worth an estimated US$6.95bn in 2007. Since 2002, the market has expanded by over 65%, with annual growth for 2007 alone pegged at more than 18%. Much of the recent growth in the market has resulted from the entrance of many of the worlds leading chocolate suppliers, as a result of which levels of new product development have been high. For example, up to 1,500 new products have now been launched in the sector since 2002, with more manufacturers striving to develop a strong portfolio of premium chocolate ranges.

This chapter reviews the main markets with analysis of the latest market trends, segments and provides historic market values and % share statistics.

Chapter 3 Current trends

A number of major trends are driving the premium chocolate market at present. Although many are inter-linked, a number of major factors have been identified, as follows:

• premium versus mainstream;
• provenance;
• raw materials;
• health/wellness; and
• the impact of own-label/branding.

The chapter reviews each major trend in turn.

Chapter 4 Consumer dynamics

This chapter reviews the latest key consumer trends within each major region, covering single-origin, ethical chocolate and milk versus dark.

Chapter 5 Industry supply

Here, all major premium chocolate suppliers such as Mars, Nestl, Cadbury and Hershey are analysed. Plus notable recent company activity such as the acquisition of Belgian firm Guylian in June 2008 by Lotte are analysed.

Chapter 6 New product activity

This chapter provides an analysis of how recent new product activity illustrates how confectionery manufacturers have been driving growth within the premium chocolate market. Innovations such as single-origin, dark, premium range launches and even chilli flavours are discussed.

Chapter 7 The future

The global premium chocolate market is forecast to reach a value of US$12.9bn by 2011. This represents an increase of more than 85% in value terms compared with present levels, and provides an indication that the market in many parts of the world has only just started to develop towards its potential. This forecast is supported by the opinions of Nestl, which claims the global market for premium and luxury chocolate may reach even higher at US$14bn within the next decade.

Here, we present 2007-2011 market value forecasts for the world, US and European markets.