U.S. Chocolate Market to Reach $30 Billion

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Oct 17, 2016, 07:35 ET

Reportlinker Review is a series of posts featuring Innovations, Social and Economic Megatrends to understand the World of Tomorrow. Each post is illustrated with statistics for one industry.

NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Reportlinker Review in a nutshell

United States is world's largest chocolate market
Mondelez to introduce Oreo candy bar
Company plans to be a snack leader in 2020

How is the market ?

The United States, the world's largest chocolate market, is forecasted to be valued at $30 billion in 2021.

The demand for chocolate has increased as customers have begun to prefer sugar-free, premium and dark chocolates. They also are looking for chocolates with antioxidants.

Last year, 65% of U.S. chocolate revenue was in the seasonal and countline segments. The majority of chocolate candies were purchased at supermarkets and other retail stores.

Chocolate also is used by the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Mondelez International Inc., the world's second largest chocolate company, has announced it will introduce an Oreo-branded candy bar in the U.S. market beginning this month. It will be nationwide next year.

The Oreo bars already are available in 20 other countries.

The bars will be covered in Milka chocolate, a Mondelez brand.

In addition, Mondelez will introduce its Green and Black's brand to more stores. A brand made without genetically modified organisms or factory-made ingredients is in development.

The U.S. is a weak market for Mondelez. Since splitting from Kraft Foods in 2012, Mondelez has generated 70% of its revenue outside North America. However, sluggish overseas economies and currency fluctuations have pushed the company to find growth elsewhere.

In 2015, Mondelez had $50 million in U.S. revenue. Most was generated by its Toblerone brand. Comparatively, global sales were $12.9 billion, according to Euromonitor International.

"With our strong brands and global expertise in chocolate, we see enormous potential to grow our U.S. business and expand the category," Tim Cofer, Mondelez chief growth officer, told Candy Industry.

Cofer values the U.S. chocolate market at $14 billion, but that per capita consumption is half of Europe's.

Snack Leader

As Americans seek to reduce sugar in their diets, the candy market has seen sales decrease. To compensate, candy companies are seeking revenue elsewhere. Hershey Co., for example, began selling beef jerky last year after purchasing Krave Pure Foods.

Mondelez has set a goal of becoming a global leader in the snacks market by 2020. It also has set a goal of earning $1 billion in revenue from its ecommerce business.

In August, Mondelez gave up on bid to purchase Hershey after two months of negotiations. Hershey rejected the initial $23 billion bid and the follow-up bid of $115 a share.

Purchasing Hershey would have helped Mondelez grow its U.S. business. Mondelez licenses the Cadbury brand overseas while Hershey licenses it in the U.S.

ReportLinker Review – North American Chocolate Confectionery Market (source: MarketLine)

The chocolate confectionery market in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries totaled $20.9 billion in 2014. The fastest growing country was Mexico.
In 2014, the U.S. had revenue totaling $18.8 billion. Canada had $1.4 billion and Mexico $655.0 million.
In 2019, the U.S. is forecasted to be valued at $19.9 billion followed by Canada at $1.6 billion and Mexico at $731.2 million.