Slow down for chocolate sales in number one EU market
concerns impact sales, a trend which has created opportunities for
major players to roll out sugar free and low carbohydrate products,
according to market analysts Datamonitor.
Eating their way through about 10 kilos of chocolate a year, the British are Europe's number one chocolate consumer followed by Germany and France with 8.3 and 5.8 kilos respectively.
But according to Datamonitor, the pace of growth in the market is slated to slow down, kicked off in 2004 when overall chocolate volume sales rose by less than 1 per cent to 605m kg.
"This trend is likely to continue to the end of the decade," state the researchers.
In order to beat off stagnant sales Datamonitor anticipates the major players on the UK market - Cadbury Schweppes, Masterfoods and Nestle - will increasingly launch new low carbohydrate and sugar free products in order to achieve price premiums in an increasingly crowded market place, and in effort to attract adult consumers back to the chocolate market.
Datamonitor reports: "This trend has already been seen in the US. As the childhood obesity controversy rolls on, food and beverage manufacturers are increasingly aiming new product developments at adults. Indeed, Nestle has recently launched a low carbohydrate version of the Kit Kat in the UK."
Chocoholic Brits may eat 10kg of chocolate a year - nearly twice the European average - or the equivalent of 154 Mars Bars but to satiate their chocolate cravings, British chocoholics pay nearly 30 per cent more than the European average.
Consumers in the UK pay nearly £6 per kilogram for their chocolate, three times as much as consumers in the Czech Republic.
The UK chocolate market, valued at £3.6 billion (€5.08bn) in 2004, was dominated by three players - Cadbury Schweppes, Masterfoods and Nestle.
Chocolate bars (or countline products) account for 44 per cent of all chocolate sales by volume - with the market leaders being Kit Kat, Twix and the Mars Bar.
