The current market is tough for chocolatiers, but they are hoping for a happy Christmas this year thanks to the revival of a number of classics and recent sales figures that suggest this could be a bumper festive season.
In a nod to those of a nostalgic bent, Quality Street is bringing back the coffee creme, while Cadbury Dairy Milk Coins are returning for the first time since 2014. The Malteser is also set to defend its surprise title of the UK’s favourite festive chocolate with a new offering for 2023.
The cost of living crisis has seen bars such as the KitKat go up in price by 10% or more since 2021. And while chocolate typically benefits from the “lipstick effect” – it’s one of the goods that qualifies as a little, everyday treat resulting in steady sales – it has fallen on unusually hard times. Cocoa and sugar prices have been at historical highs over the last two years and this summer’s floods in Ivory Coast – one of the world’s main cocoa producers – will bring more shortages in the coming months, leading to even higher costs.
Last year, overall sales were gloomy – a result of the record heatwave, cost of living and the hangover from high sales during the pandemic. Yet 2022 was saved by exceptional Christmas sales and it is this fact that is encouraging chocolatiers to throw everything at their new winter ranges. Confectionery sales topped £2bn for the first time last year – a figure no doubt helped by higher prices. And 97% of British households bought sweet treats in the runup to Christmas.
The strongest market growth comes from high-quality chocolate bought as a gift or shared treat. Lindt Lindor and Ferrero Rocher, brands built on an image of ambassadors’ receptions and fancy selection boxes, now rank as two of Britain’s top 10 favourite chocolate brands.
Luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason’s chocolate sales are up 32% year on year, according to confectionery buyer Alice Crone, with especially strong sales from products for sharing. She says: “Since the pandemic, more families and friends are coming together and enjoying selection boxes.”
Of course, this doesn’t stop ordinary chocs jazzing up for Christmas. The humble Teaser – the Celebrations tub version of the Malteser – has recently been voted Britain’s favourite festive chocolate. Fans can pick up a Maltesers Christmas Mix bag full of reindeers, truffles and Teasers – new for 2023. Waitrose may be facing its first Christmas since 2010 without Heston Blumenthal and his box-office puddings, but it has introduced a mince pie called Merry as its festive mascot – and it’s made completely of chocolate. Searches for “box of chocolates” are up 40% on Waitrose.com compared with this time last year and the Waitrose No 1 Mint Chocolate Edition and Lindt Assorted Chocolate Tin is already showing an increase in sales compared with last year.
Cadbury is bringing back Mini Snow Balls – one of the biggest novelty hits of 2022 – but the spotlight will be on Dairy Milk Chocolate Coins, returning after an absence of nine years. The line was discontinued when supermarkets launched cheaper versions and sales dipped. Quality Street has a similarly nostalgic treat: the coffee creme returns to the purple tin for the first time in 20 years.
In Wonka, a new, big-screen version of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – out on 15 December and starring Timothée Chalamet – the ethics as well as the alchemy of the chocolate industry play a surprisingly large role if the new trailer, which dropped this week, is anything to go by. Hugh Grant as Lofty the Oompa-Loompa is already rumoured to steal the show.
Back in the real world, Cadbury continues its partnership with Trussell Trust foodbanks, donating 10,000 treats for Christmas 2023, while Quality Street has switched to paper wrappers to decrease packaging waste.
Paul Chrystal – the bestselling author of The History of Sweets, who has also written extensively about the British confectionery industry – says chocolate has long been part of the magic of British Christmas. He says the tradition started in the late 1800s, once sugar tax relaxed and disposable incomes increased. Early hits included chocolate coins and logs – possibly inspired by pagan yule logs.
“Fry’s and Cadbury sold chocolates in boxes from 1862 and, by 1882, Rowntree’s had no fewer than 150 different styles of box on offer. They were often repurposed as repositories for keepsakes – great for long-fuse, slow-drip advertising.” Chrystal gives special mention to Terry’s Chocolate Orange, once a stocking staple. “It actually started life as the Chocolate Apple, which was phased out in 1954. Before that there was the equally unsuccessful Chocolate Lemon.”
