Member Article

Luxury chocolate brands set to challenge traditional favourites this Christmas

The holiday season brings mulled wine, mince pies, and the hope of finding that favourite Quality Street still in the tub. Or does it? According to a new hi brands® sustainability survey from Harris Interactive, more expensive, premium brands are fast catching up with the traditional chocolate classics in the popularity stakes.

The consumer study measured brand sustainability across equity, future relevance and vitality for a wide variety of brands, and found that overall, Thorntons was the highest scoring brand, followed closely by Lindt, Ferrero, Toblerone and Terry’s.

More luxurious brands such as Hotel Chocolat, Thorntons, Godiva and Lindt now rank highest when it comes to brand excitement and future relevance.

When it comes to ‘brand community’, artisanal confectioner Godiva surpasses all the names surveyed. This reflects consumers’ personal identification with the brand and how they have a desire to co-create with it.

Godiva is also champion of the ‘brand excitement’ element. The ability to generate consumer interest and anticipation for the latest products is giving newer players in the confectionery trade an edge over festive favourites. When comparing the top two performers of this sector to the classic Milk Tray, the survey reveals that Godiva and Hotel Chocolat both excel and outrank Milk Tray by 14 positions.

Furthermore, these two brands hold precedence in the area of future relevance, alongside the Ferrero-owned Thorntons, which means that confectionery consumers are now more attracted to compelling and challenging brands. These luxury names are surpassing usual Christmas chocolates such as Celebrations, Quality Street and Milk Tray. A comparison to the latter unveils that:

• Hotel Chocolat ranks top for future relevance
• Thorntons ranks 2nd
• Godiva ranks 3rd After Eight, Matchmakers and Milk Tray are the lowest ranking brands for future relevance.

Lucia Juliano, Sector Head FMCG and Retail, comments: “The latest hi brands study reveals an interesting and notable change in the confectionery industry. This shift reflects growing trends in the wider food industry, with many consumers favouring higher quality, sustainable products and premium brands which offer something exciting and new. Due to public support for government policies on sugar reduction in the food industry, perhaps these insights also suggest that chocolate is more viewed as more of an occasional, indulgent treat to be savoured.”

The brand sustainability framework was conceived, designed, fielded and analysed by Harris Interactive.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harris Interactive .