In Asia, especially China, consumers are getting a sweet tooth for chocolate
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The demand for chocolate in Asia is growing more and more. In three or four years, this might lead to shortages to the delight of confectionery companies already rubbing their hands over potentially record earnings.
Global sales of chocolate confectionary will gain 2 per cent this year and 2.1 next year, Bloomberg reported, citing estimates by Euromonitor International Ltd.
China is expected to take the biggest bite out of the chocolate confectionery market after sales doubled in the past ten years with greater revenue potential than Western Europe, the biggest consumer.
This year alone, sales in China will jump 6.9 per cent year and expand another 6.6 per cent in 2014. By comparison, sales in Western Europe should rise 0.5 per cent this year and 0.6 per cent next year.
Next year, global sales of chocolate confectionary should reach a record 7.3 million tonnes. Although Western Europeans dwarf everyone else with 2.2 million tonnes eaten in 2013, their 4.5 kg per-capita consumption has not changed much in recent years. Growth potential there is thus limited.
The story is different in the Asia-Pacific region, home to half of the world's population, where demand is expected to grow. Next year, per capita consumption should reach 200 grams, twice as much as a decade ago, fuelled by rising disposable incomes and the world's fastest growing middle classes.
Given China's "huge untapped market", overall sales of chocolate confectionary in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to expand 5 per cent annually.
For this reason, several confectionery companies are building plants in Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as vetting the continent's tastes, more specifically China's, where milky candies dominate the market.
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03/12/2008
