Chocolate Has a Sweet and Spicy Growth Mix

Summary by Lucy Reyes: 

Investors and companies are looking to profit from consumers with a sweet tooth for new tastes instead of the “traditional flare of chocolate. This year investors have their eyes set on treats like chicken flavored Oreo cookies and ruby pink chocolate! According to WSJ “The U.S. is still the biggest confectionery market in the world and brands need to be there, but growth has been hard to come by recently.” Last year in 2018 the country’s chocolate sales grew 10%, due from improvement from the earlier years.

There seems to be a cutthroat competition/market because companies are trying to find new way to stand out during this growth of sales. The latest launch of an evolving product in the U.S. chocolate market is A ruby pink KitKat that launched in Asia last year. It went viral on social media and “was one reason why Swiss food giant Nestlé grew sales in its sluggish confectionery unit by 2.7% in 2018, compared with a flat performance the prior year.” Not only they are transforming the taste of the product, but they are also trying to standout with a more attractive packaging as well.

Oreos started emerging markets around different regions and reaching out to the middle class. According to WSJ, new products are beginning to shift consumers view about not only eating chocolate on special occasions (like China), but whenever they please. Involving yourself into the right markets and understanding cultures in different regions provides growth by straddling different tastes.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chocolate-has-a-sweet-and-spicy-growth-mix-1155567160