Dutch consumers are as fond as ever of their biscuits and salty snacks. New figures released today show healthy market growth in 2000, with chocolate catching up as consumers find their sweet tooth. Karel Beckman reports:
The Dutch confectionery and salty snacks market grew 3.3% in value and 1.3% in volume in the year 2000, according to new figures from the research agency Studiecentrum Snacks en Zoetwaren (SSZ), an institution owned jointly by the majority of Dutch confectionery and snacks manufacturers. SSZ attributes the sales increase to product innovations, upgrading of products, the impact of special events (European Football Championship and Olympic Games), population growth and a summer without heat waves. The Dutch confectionery and salty snacks market has shown reasonable sales growth every year since 1994.
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The SSZ figures, generally considered to be the most complete and authoritative data on the Dutch snacks and confectionery market, show good value growth among all four major product categories, with salty snacks leading the way (5.2%), followed by sugar confectionery (4.5%), biscuits & baked goods (2.2%) and chocolate (2.2%). Volume growth was highest in the chocolate category (2%), followed by salty snacks (1.9%), sugar confectionery (1.4%) and biscuits & baked goods (0.9%).
Even growth
SSZ notes that 2000 was exceptional for the Dutch confectionery market in that growth was spread fairly evenly among the thirty product segments. Only two segments showed a decline in turnover. In the chocolate category, the two largest segments (candybars/countlines and chocolates/pralines) showed the smallest percentage growth and the two smallest segments (straightlines/M&M’s and seasonal chocolate) the highest growth.
In the sugar confectionery category (which includes chewing gum), the smallest segment (mallows) was the only one to show a decline. The largest segment (liquorice) grew 1%, while the second largest (chewing gum) grew 3.2%. Growth of the biscuits and baked goods category was considerable at 2.2%, considering that this category accounts for over 40% of total confectionery and salty snacks sales in the Netherlands, and suffered more than the other categories from a sales decline of artisanal products (-4%) and an accompanying shift in sales to lower-priced supermarket products. The salty snacks category profited more than the other categories from the televised sports events in the summer.
Highest per capita consumption of biscuits
Per capita consumption of confectionery and salty snacks grew only fractionally to just over 35 kilogrammes. Dutch per capita consumption of biscuits and baked goods is probably the highest in the world at 17.3kg. By contrast, Dutch consumption of chocolate is low by international standards at 4.73kg (compared to about 10kg in Belgium and approximately 12kg in Switzerland).
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By GlobalDataThe total Dutch confectionery and salty snacks market was worth HFl6.657bn (€3.025bn) in 2000, which represents more than 10% of total spending on food in the Netherlands. Approximately 250 producers and importers employ about 18,000 people and supply some 15,000 different products to over 75,000 points of sale.
The food retail channel accounted for 65.6% of total Dutch confectionery and salty snacks sales in 2000, almost a full percentage point more than in 1999. Food retail sales of confectionery increased 4.7% in value (as against 3.8% of average supermarket sales growth across all product categories). Confectionery sales from pharmacies/drugstores, petrol stations, tobacco shops and kiosks also grew, by 3%. Sales from the artisanal trade channel (small bakery and confectionery stores) declined for the second consecutive year (-4% in 2000, -4.5% in 1999).
By Karel Beckman, just-food.com correspondent
Dutch confectionery and salty snacks market in consumer value (in € million)
1999 | 2000 | |
| Chocolate | ||
| Moulded bars, tablets | 103.6 | 106.4 |
| Candybars, countlines | 157.3 | 158.2 |
| Chocolates, pralines | 162.7 | 163.6 |
| Straightlines (M&M’s/Smarties) | 38.6 | 42.3 |
| Seasonal chocolate | 60.4 | 63.6 |
| Total chocolate | 522.7 | 534.1 |
| Sugar confectionery | ||
| Licquorice | 137.7 | 139.1 |
| Chewing gum | 126.8 | 130.1 |
| Peppermints | 70.4 | 73.6 |
| Soft gums | 79.1 | 87.3 |
| Throat lozenges | 57.3 | 59.1 |
| Chewing sweets | 38.6 | 40.9 |
| Hard candy, lollypops | 45.9 | 51.4 |
| Mallows | 30.9 | 30.0 |
| Miscellaneous | 38.6 | 41.4 |
| Total sugar confectionery | 625.5 | 653.6 |
| Biscuits and baked goods | ||
| Standard biscuits | 64.1 | 65.0 |
| Other biscuits, waffles | 96.4 | 106.8 |
| Nutritionals | 74.5 | 81.8 |
| Cookies | 165.9 | 164.5 |
| Baked goods | 232.7 | 234.1 |
| Mini-cakes | 47.3 | 51.4 |
| Gingercake | 70.5 | 71.8 |
| Pastry | 302.3 | 302.3 |
| Cakes | 35.0 | 35.9 |
| Frozen pastry | 53.6 | 53.6 |
| Seasonal baked goods | 53.2 | 54.5 |
| Total biscuits and baked goods | 1195.5 | 1221.8 |
| Salty snacks | ||
| Peanuts, nuts, rice crackers | 186.8 | 190.9 |
| Salted biscuits | 44.5 | 47.3 |
| Toast, biscottes | 43.2 | 46.4 |
| Crisps/potato chips | 167.3 | 175.9 |
| Extruded snacks | 144.1 | 155.9 |
| Total salty snacks | 585.9 | 616.4 |
| Total confectionery & salty snacks | 2929.5 | 3025.9 |
(Source: SSZ, Zeist, NL)
Dutch confectionery and salty snacks market in volume (x 1,000 tons)
1999 | 2000 | |
| Chocolate | ||
| Moulded bars, tablets | 16.5 | 17.2 |
| Candybars, countlines | 24.1 | 24.0 |
| Chocolates, pralines | 22.8 | 23.0 |
| Straightlines (M&M’s/Smarties) | 5.4 | 5.9 |
| Seasonal chocolate | 5.8 | 6.0 |
| Total chocolate | 74.6 | 76.1 |
| Sugar confectionery | ||
| Licquorice | 32.0 | 31.0 |
| Chewing gum | 4.9 | 5.1 |
| Peppermints | 11.6 | 11.5 |
| Soft gums | 17.4 | 18.5 |
| Throat lozenges | 5.7 | 5.5 |
| Chewing sweets | 6.6 | 6.9 |
| Hard candy, lollypops | 8.9 | 9.0 |
| Mallows | 7.6 | 7.6 |
| Miscellaneous | 7.3 | 8.3 |
| Total sugar confectionery | 102.0 | 103.4 |
| Biscuits and baked goods | ||
| Standard biscuits | 20.0 | 19.8 |
| Other biscuits, waffles | 20.5 | 22.1 |
| Nutritionals | 12.0 | 12.8 |
| Cookies | 46.5 | 46.2 |
| Baked goods | 64.0 | 64.0 |
| Mini-cakes | 10.0 | 10.6 |
| Gingercake | 29.3 | 29.0 |
| Pastry | 31.1 | 30.8 |
| Cakes | 12.0 | 12.6 |
| Frozen pastry | 13.9 | 13.9 |
| Seasonal baked goods | 16.9 | 16.8 |
| Total biscuits and baked goods | 276.2 | 278.6 |
| Salty snacks | ||
| Peanuts, nuts, rice crackers | 31.5 | 31.2 |
| Salted biscuits | 8.3 | 8.4 |
| Toast, biscottes | 9.6 | 10.2 |
| Crisps/potato chips | 36.9 | 37.3 |
| Extruded snacks | 16.7 | 17.9 |
| Total salty snacks | 103.0 | 105.0 |
| Total confectionery & salty snacks | 555.8 | 563.1 |
(Source: SSZ, Zeist, NL)
