Chocolate makers try to satisfy a picky Chinese palate

Tag : chinese peanuts


Major global chocolate brands like Hershey and Cadbury, alreadyBarry Callebaut clients in other parts of the world, have swarmedto China.

The Chinese chocolate market, which totals 6.46 billion yuan, or$943 million, a year, is 1.1 percent of the world's total.

Yet rising wealth and the increasing influence of Western tastesare fueling annual market growth of more than 10 percent, comparedwith 1 percent to 2 percent in Europe, according to EuromonitorInternational.

Today, an average Chinese eats only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, ofchocolate a year, with consumption concentrated in affluent coastalcities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

"I don't think that the Chinese will ever eat 10 kilograms per headlike the Swiss, but they may eat 2 kilograms per head like theJapanese and the Koreans," said Maurizio Decio, vice president ofthe Asia-Pacific region at Barry Callebaut. One kilogram equals 2.2pounds.

Chinese chocolate consumers today are mostly young people 15 to 24years old, according to a survey by Sinomonitor. Young affluentChinese might be developing a sweet tooth, but the taste buds ofmost Chinese favor salty foods.

Salted pork, fish, crab and beans are a common feature on Chinesebreakfast tables, while youngsters often snack on salted driedfruit and drink salty soda pop.

People in Beijing consume 12 to 15 grams of salt a day on average,compared with the 6 grams suggested by the World HealthOrganization.

And it is not just taste that poses a challenge.

"There's a misconception that chocolate is fattening and associatedwith diabetes and heart disease," said Xiao Mingchao, head ofresearch at Sinomonitor. "That's why many health-conscious Chineseavoid it."

Still, a survey by the company showed that 42.3 percent of urbanChinese consumed chocolate at least once during 2007, up from 37.9percent in 2006 and 34.9 percent in 2005, spurred by billions ofdollars in marketing and branding by foreign chocolate makers.

"Deep-pocketed multinationals like Mars have been building theirbrands in the Chinese market for many years," said Zhao Yanping,secretary general of the China Association of Bakery andConfectionery Industry.

"Chocolate is not a necessity," Zhao added. "It's more aboutbranding and emotional attachment."

Mars, the global market leader, has spent heavily to make theclassic M&M's slogan - "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands" -familiar to large numbers of Chinese, while its Dove chocolate hascultivated an image of silky elegance.

Hershey, which last year created green-tea-flavored "kisses" forthe Asian market, will soon open a Chocolate World flagship storein Shanghai.

The store will offer thematic activities, chocolate-makingdemonstrations, chocolate desserts, beverages and plenty of candy,as it aims to promote its brand and become the No. 2 chocolateseller in China, after Mars, by 2010.

A handful of Western brands, which began entering China in the1980s, now account for more than half of the Chinese chocolatemarket.

Local competitors like Golden Monkey have found it hard to linktheir brands to an image of Western luxury and have mostly stuck tocheaper compounds using little cocoa butter.

Four players, Mars, Cadbury, Nestlé and the Ferrero Group,controlled a combined 41.3 percent of the Chinese market in 2006,according to Euromonitor.

Many Chinese buy chocolate only for gifts, not for personalconsumption, as candy occupies a special place in the country'stradition of gift-giving for special occasions.

Young people in Chinese cities, drawn by marketing campaign imagesof romance and Western lifestyles, buy chocolates for Valentine'sDay and Christmas.

Chocolate also competes with hard candies and hard-boiled"happiness eggs" as gifts for wedding guests.