By Vijaya Sarathi, Consultant

Born somewhere in Mexico in 450 BC, named in Spain, travelled across the globe to mark its presence, yes this is the “xocolātl” most commonly known as Chocolate.
One of the most promising and fast-growing industry in India in this decade is Chocolate. Globally chocolate market size is about 103 billion USD and is growing at 4.5% CAGR whereas in 2017 Indian Chocolate industry is 1.3 billion USD and is expected to grow at the rate of 16 % CAGR which is absolutely encouraging for many entrepreneurs.

For the following tangible reasons this industry has got a tremendous scope to grow further

  • Increasing the average disposable personal income
  • The high percentage of youth i.e. over two-third of the population is below 35 years
  • The new occasions, gifting options made chocolates as a substitute for traditional sweets
  • Chocolate is one can be relished by anyone! no age or gender or time limitation

Realizing the current C19 pandemic scenario many chocolate companies like Hershey, Amul, Mondelez had taken different initiatives to reach their consumers even during lockdown by partnering with food aggregators, e-commerce sales and introducing customized home delivery packaging based on consumer needs.

BG Research says

  • Average per capita chocolate consumption by an Indian is around 120gm
  • Milk chocolate is consumed more than dark and milk chocolate types.
  • Chocolate is consumed mainly 1) to energise or 2) to reward self or 3) boost mood
  • Dark chocolate consumption is increasing because of increased health consciousness, exposure etc
  • It is observed that buying behaviour is highly impulsive and smaller SKUs move faster
  • Major challenges – Huge promotional budget, distribution channel, Operational feasibility
  • Most of the promotions are around emotional like romantic flavour or feeling of achievement and product attributes such as Original Cocoa from Ghana, Low sugar
Source
  • https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2020/07/27/Dark-is-rising-India-s-chocolate-scene-calls-for-healthy-unique-innovations-to-court-consumer-favour