Market Research - Chocolate

1. MARKET AREA

The market stretches on the geographic territory of Romania, as the following map describes.

Geographical Chocolate Consumption

The results of the survey undetaken show the fact that out of 1 500 people interviewed, 1 211 are chocolate consumers (81% ), and in what concerns sugar products, their number decreses to 369 (26%). Most of them live in Transilvania. On the other hand, people living in Dobrogea show a very low rate of consumption.

Although Romanian consumption is very little above 1kilo per capita, while in the EU the median consumption overpasses 6kilos annualy, the Romanian market is constantly growing since 2003, with 10% annualy.

2. MARKET STRUCTURE

The most significant sector on the market is taken by chocolate tablets, being sold with 64% of the total market, in volume, and 58% as value. Milk chocolate is dominant in this sector, with more than 13 000 tones sold 2 years ago, followed at a big gap by the white chocolate, with 1,2 tones. The most popular filled tablets are with cappuccino, strawberries, cherries, brandy and caramel, while lemon creme holds an insignificant chare (0.1 tones).

Kraft Foods, Kex, Supreme Chocolate, Heidi and Modares Food are the producers that hold 95% of the market, the cummulated more popular brands being for 2005 Poiana, Primola, Laura, Africana, and Novatini.

A survey held by the company Daedalus Cosulting testifies the previous affirmations. The survey followed the frequency of consumption, the motivations and the situations in which people buy chocolate, the favorite brand, as well as the image of certain sweets cathegories. The survey has be taken in April 2005, on 764 people from the urban are, age between 18 and 65 years.

The results show that, in the 4 weeks before the study, 73% of the urban respondents had consumed sweets (candies, tablets, chocolate bars, packed waffles, cereal bars, packed coockies and milk desserts). The average rate of consumption for these types of products is 2-3 times per week, milk sweets having a higher frequency, of 2.6 times per week, while coockies are more rarely consumed (1.7 times per week). The biggest fans of chocolate are those with an age between 18 and 24, whereaa those between 55 and 65 have the lowets appetite for it.

Unlike men, women have a high prefference for this category. Pralines and waffles are the exception in which there is a very slight difference between men and women. The income level has an unsignificant influence when it comes to sweets consumption. Also, education plays a certain role, in the sense that more educated consumers prefer a wider range of sortiments. Higher incomes, on the other hand, determine the prefference for premium brands, mainly imported, of Swiss chocolate, or French (Toblerone, Lindt, Merci etc). Still, these do not represent a high quota on the market, but are worth mentioning, though.

Chocolate tablets are perceived to be the most atractively promoted, and they have a high variety of aroma and fillings. Whereas tablets are looked upon as energizers and even as coffee-like stimulators, pralines are associated more with festivities, occasions and are very well regarded as suitable for gifts or for serving the guests with.