Health is not a significant factor in driving chocolate category sales, research firm Mintel has suggested.
Unveiling Mintel’s findings at the UK Food and Drink Federation’s biscuit, cake, chocolate and confectionery (BCCC) sector group annual meeting last week (6 April), David Jago, trends and innovations director at the research firm, suggested that health messages were unlikely to appeal to consumers buying chocolate products as “treats”.
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“It is all about indulgence and reward… health is not important to the chocolate category,” Jago said.
As a consequence, communications concerning reformulation – such as ‘less saturated fat’ – are “not really consumer friendly messages”, he continued.
Instead, Jago claimed consumers are more focused on ethical, Fairtrade, premium or organic messages when purchasing chocolate.
It is in these areas that private-label chocolate has developed a stronghold. This should provide branded manufacturers with some cause for concern, said Jago, especially given expanding private-label sales and the fact that private label now accounts for one-third of new product development.
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By GlobalDataHowever, he emphasised that only 11% of consumers think that private-label chocolate tastes as good as branded chocolate.
