Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Products covered in this report
Executive Summary
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- The market
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- Figure 1: Total China chocolate market retail value, 2011-21
- Key players
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- Figure 2: Value share of top 10 companies, 2014-15
- The consumer
- Chocolate gains high penetration but low depth of usage
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- Figure 3: Usage frequency of chocolate, January 2016
- Dark chocolate is not outstanding for health benefits
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- Figure 4: Perceptions of chocolate, January 2016
- Weight gain is the biggest concern
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- Figure 5: Barriers to having more chocolate, January 2016
- Chocolate origin and health benefits are premium selling points
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- Figure 6: Opportunity for premiumisation, January 2016
- Chocolates have opportunity to tap into other categories
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- Figure 7: Attitudes towards product extension, January 2016
- Price is not the key consideration factor for online purchases – brand is
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- Figure 8: Online purchase behaviour, January 2016
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Lessons from Hershey – The risk of expansion
- The facts
- The implications
- Is healthy chocolate an opportunity?
- The facts
- The implications
- Seek growth by product extension
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 9: Food with chocolate flavour, China and global, 2011-15*
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Chocolate market volume sales fall in 2015
- Increasing price of chocolate drives consumers away
- Gifting market decreases, while opportunity exists in daily consumption
Market Size and Forecast
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- Chocolate market volume sales fall in 2015
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- Figure 10: Retail market size of chocolate in China, 2011-16
- Market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 3.3%
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- Figure 11: Total China chocolate market retail value, 2011-21
- Figure 12: Total China chocolate market retail volume, 2011-21
Market Drivers and Challenges
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- Increasing disposable income assists growth
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- Figure 13: Per capita disposable income, China, 2010-14
- Increasing cocoa price
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- Figure 14: Average price of cocoa, 2005-16
- Figure 15: Average price of chocolate and sugar confectionery (RMB/kg), China, 2009-14
- High calorie levels drive consumers away from chocolate
- Festivals influence chocolate consumption
Market Segmentation
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- Gifting market decreases
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- Figure 16: Retail value of other forms of chocolates, 2011-21*
- Growth opportunity exists in encouraging daily consumption
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- Figure 17: Retail value of tablet chocolate, 2011-21
- Figure 18: Retail value of countlines, 2011-21
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Chocolate market is quite consolidated
- Hershey loses 1.1% market share and Ferrero opens first plant in China
- Manufacturers want to enhance health image of chocolate
- Chocolate brands tap into adjacent categories in other countries
Market Share
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- Chocolate market in China is quite consolidated
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- Figure 19: Value share of top 10 companies, 2014-15
- Le Conte exits the market
- Hershey loses 1.1% market share
Competitive Strategies
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- Mars promotes impressive advertisements
- Ferrero opens first plant in China
- Fruit-filled chocolate enhances healthy image
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- Figure 20: Hershey fruit-filled chocolate, China, 2015
- Figure 21: Dove fruit-filled chocolate, China, 2015
Who’s Innovating?
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- The market is lacking in product innovation
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- Figure 22: Newly launched chocolate, by launch type, 2013-15
- Healthy chocolates
- Chocolate with ‘minus’ claim
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- Figure 23: Chocolate with low/no/reduced sugar, global, 2015
- Figure 24: Chocolate with low/no/reduced fat, global, 2015
- Chocolate with additional health benefits
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- Figure 25: Chocolate with low/no/reduced fat, global, 2015
- Chocolate leveraging other healthy food ingredients
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- Figure 26: Chocolate with healthy food, global, 2015
- Chocolate married with other categories
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- Figure 27: Chocolate flavoured food (new launches), China and global, 2011-15
- Figure 28: Examples of Mars brand extension, UK, 2015
- Snickers launches ‘Hungerithm’ campaign in Australia
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Dark chocolate, milk chocolate and chocolate with fruit bits/nuts are most popular types
- High calorie content is the biggest concern hindering growth
- Chocolates have opportunity to tap into other categories
- Consumers are conservative when purchasing chocolate online
- Brand is a key consideration factor for online purchasing
The Consumer – Usage Frequency of Chocolate
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- Chocolate gains high penetration but low depth of usage
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- Figure 29: Usage frequency of chocolate, January 2016
- Dark chocolate, milk chocolate and chocolate with fruit bits/nuts are most popular types
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- Figure 30: Usage frequency of chocolate (continued), January 2016
- White chocolate is gaining popularity
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- Figure 31: Rank of popular chocolate types, 2015-16
- 25-39-year-olds and high earners are core consumers
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- Figure 32: % of those eat chocolate once a week or more, by age and income, January 2016
The Consumer – Perceptions of Chocolate
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- Plain chocolate for energy boost, chocolate with added ingredients for snacking
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- Figure 33: Perceptions towards chocolate, January 2016
- Milk chocolate is widely available
- The health benefits of dark chocolate are not well appreciated
- Chocolate with bits and fillings are premium for gifting
The Consumer – Barriers to Having More Chocolate
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- Weight gain is the biggest concern
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- Figure 34: Barriers to have more chocolate, January 2016
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- Figure 35: Top 5 ‘minus’ claim among newly launched chocolate, global, 2011-15
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- Figure 36: Kit Kat on-pack low-calorie claim, Australia, 2016
- Consumers are satisfied with the flavour of chocolate
- High price hinders growth
The Consumer – Opportunity for Premiumisation
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- Origin is key for premiumisation
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- Figure 37: Opportunities for premiumisation, January 2016
- Health is another selling point
- Interest in ‘handmade’ is increasing
- Flavour innovation stays niche
The Consumer – Attitudes towards Chocolate
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- Imported chocolates do not offer superior health benefits
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- Figure 38: Attitudes towards imported chocolate, January 2016
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- Figure 39: Usage frequency of chocolate, by souvenir purchase behaviour, January 2016
- Chocolates from boutiques are premium
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- Figure 40: Attitudes towards chocolate from boutiques, by boutique purchase behaviour, January 2016
- Chocolates have opportunity to tap into other categories
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- Figure 41: Attitudes towards product extension, January 2016
The Consumer – Online Purchase Behaviour
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- Price is not the key consideration factor for online purchases
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- Figure 42: Purchasing chocolate from online, by demographics, January 2016
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- Figure 43: Online purchase behaviour, January 2016
- Old and low-income consumers are conservative, young and high earners are willing to explore
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- Figure 44: Online purchase behaviour (continued), January 2016
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- Figure 45: Online purchase behaviour (continued), by gender, age and income, January 2016
- Brand is an important consideration factor
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- Figure 46: Online purchase behaviour (continued), January 2016
- New brands still have opportunity to attract consumers on shopping websites
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- Figure 47: Online purchase behaviour (continued), January 2016
The Consumer – Meet the Mintropolitans
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- Mintropolitans eat chocolate as treats
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- Figure 48: Perceptions towards chocolate, by consumer classification, January 2016
- Exquisitely-made chocolates generate premium perceptions amongst Mintropolitans
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- Figure 49: Opportunity for premiumisation, by consumer classification, January 2016
- Mintropolitans buy premium chocolate online
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- Figure 50: Online purchase behaviour, by consumer classification, January 2016
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
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- Figure 51: China chocolate market, value and volume, 2011-21
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Appendix – Market Segmentation
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- Figure 52: Retail value of chocolate tablets, 2011-21
- Figure 53: Retail value of other chocolate, 2011-21
- Figure 54: Retail value of chocolate countlines, 2011-21
- Figure 55: Retail value of individually wrapped chocolates, 2011-21
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- Figure 56: Retail value of non-individually wrapped chocolates, 2011-21
- Figure 57: Retail volume of chocolate tablets, 2011-21
- Figure 58: Retail volume of other chocolate, 2011-21
- Figure 59: Retail volume of chocolate countlines, 2011-21
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- Figure 60: Retail volume of individually wrapped chocolates, 2011-21
- Figure 61: Retail volume of non-individually wrapped chocolates, 2011-21
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Fan chart forecast
- Mintropolitans
- Why Mintropolitans?
- Who are they?
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- Figure 62: Demographic profile of Mintropolitans vs Non-Mintropolitans, by gender, age and personal income
- Figure 63: Demographic profile of Mintropolitans vs Non-Mintropolitans, by marital status, city tier and education level
- Abbreviations
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