European chocolate market – demand trends & 2021 outlook

The first question concerned the size of the global industry. According to the former VP, “the global market of chocolate over the world is somewhere around EUR 120bn”, with Europe making up approximately half of the demand of chocolate. China represents a fraction of this at the moment, at “just one tablet of chocolate per year and per person”.

Within the European chocolate market, milk chocolate takes the lion’s share of the market, although there is variation between countries – for instance, France’s rate of dark chocolate consumption is much higher than others, eating into the share of milk. Indeed, “the trend is moving toward dark chocolate more and more, because you have an increase of the request for a healthy product.”

Innovative within the European Chocolate Market

Another trend noted in this Interview was premiumisation. In the three main markets “I  think you have a big [price war] between the different companies, the different retailers, and the only way for you to escape from that war price is innovation.” Single origin or Lindt’s wasabi chocolate were given as examples.

Operational innovation is another way that manufacturers can set themselves apart. In addition to establishing leaner supply chains, sourcing from more productive regions is key. “If you look at one figure which is really important for the long term of the chocolate industry, the same cocoa tree is having six times more yield if it’s grown in Indonesia vs grown in West Africa.”

To access all the human insights from Third Bridge Forum’s European Chocolate Market – Demand of Chocolate Trends & 2021 Outlook Interview, click here to view the full transcript.