Montreaux Chocolate Case

Chocolate was previously considered a “delectable symbol of luxury, wealth, and power” (Klein) in the 1500s. Using modern technology, it is now easily produced. While

The premium chocolate industry is a large market in the United States and continues to grow around 10% annually. It is also populated with very strong

Clare’s Chocolate Cafes has always used good quality cocoa to make their chocolate products. This is, in itself, an amazing marketing product because customers know that while they may be paying a little bit more, the product is worth it. As well, the organization makes a wise customer draw when each hot beverage is served with a high quality chocolate product. The early practice of making chocolate products by hand and providing individual or pre-packaged products, of all sizes, for the customer to select, was

Hershey’s and Cadburys are moving towards the premium chocolate market through the acquisition or upmarket launches (Zietsma, 2007). The profit potential present in this sector supported by its 20% annual growth rate make it very attractive for large organizations to come forward and avail this opportunity. There is a low threat of new entrants prevailing in this chocolate industry because of the high capital requirements and expected retaliation by current manufacturers. Current players in the industry also possess some barriers to entry for new entrants by maintaining economies of scales with their large production capacity and keeping their product differentiation with their specialized and novelty chocolate products. Even though there are low switching costs and easy access to distribution channels, but still the brand loyalty of the customers including the Rogers’ Chocolate itself make it harder for new firms to come into the competition.

While Europe and the United States account for most chocolate consumption, the confection is growing in popularity in Asia and market forecasts are optimistic about the prospects in China and India (Nieburg, 2013, para 9). According to the CNN Freedom Project, the chocolate industry rakes in $83 billion a year, surpassing the Gross Domestic Product of over a hundred nations (“Who consumes the most chocolate,” 2012, para 3).

Since the creation of Hershey’s chocolate, chocolate today has taken on many different flavors and shapes.

Candy is not yet a “mature” industry in the United States. The compound annual growth rate for candy in the past ten years has been close to 6% a year, a very solid gain in an industry that is supposedly mature. In fact, within the chocolate confectionery subcategory, the United States ranks 11th in the world in per capita consumption and fifth in the world in growth since 1980. Based on current demographics, many analysts believe that there will be further growth for confectioneries. A “baby-boomlet” is on the way, significantly increasing the teenage population. By the time the population bulge peaks in the year 2010, it will top the baby boom in the 1960s in both size and duration. According to government statistics, the percentage of children between the age of 5 and 14 will rise during the 1990s, increasing from 14.2 percent of the population in the 1990 to 14.5 percent in the year 2000. This trend will serve as a strong foundation for increasing consumption of confectionery products through the end of the century. Nevertheless, spending for food and drink as a percentage of all personal consumption is declining in the United States, and most manufacturers recognize that future opportunities lie in using profits from domestic

10. To achieve 1 million hits on the Cocoa Delights ‘Get in touch with your dark side’ microsite by the end of the campaign.

The transportation cost of chocolate was high and small mom and pop stores commonly supplied chocolate made locally. Today you would be hard-pressed to find local chocolate in the United States, with the shelves dominated by four major brands. The

With the increasing trend in healthy diet preference, the underlying drivers of change of competition in premium chocolate industry at the strongest level are the buyers’ preferences for differentiated, refined products, instead of standardized ordinary products that are no longer demanded. In addition, baby boomers - generation with their disposable income are spending a lot on high quality premium chocolates.

The premium chocolate market has been growing at 20% annually, showing that buyers are willing to pay more for a better tasting and better quality chocolate. The declining growth of the overall chocolate market and rapid growth of the premium chocolate market is positive for current producers of premium chocolates in that the decline

Candy Marshall: our target consumers are adults who wish to indulge in chocolate, but who have been concerned with the health aspects, such as calories, fat, dental and so forth. The new chocolate products would claim lower calories, high antioxidants, and other similar benefits for adults. We have many options to reach the target consumers, such as health food stores, on-line mail order, specialty candy stores, natural food stores, candy sections in mainstream supermarkets, and so on.

Theo Chocolate was first established in March 2006 by Debra Music and Joe Whinney in the Fremont- neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (theochocolate.com, our story). For Theo, they want to do more than just chocolate. It is about the land, the people, the dedication, and the interconnected relationships that bind all of them together. That is why Joe Whinney- Theo’s founder- first pioneered the supply of organic cocoa beans into the United Strates in 1994. Traveling and working in the tropics of Central America and Africa, Joe fell in love with the land and

In pursuit of upscale segments of the market and an increased market share, Consumer Food Groups (CFG) purchased the rights to become a distributor of Montreaux’s European chocolate products in the United States in June 2011. As CFG is the division which produces confectionery products for Apollo foods, they contribute not only to one-third of the company’s total revenues and net income, but are a vital part of Apollo’s ranking as second in the global confectionery business. Upon acquisition of the rights for Montreaux’s chocolates CFG formed a new division, Montreaux Chocolate USA. Under the leadership of David Raymond as division manager and Andrea Torres

After a thorough analysis of Apollo Foods business situation, a decision plan regarding the launch of a new chocolate product for its new branch acquisition Montreaux Chocolate USA has become clear. This decision plan is based on the following key challenges and marketing issues that need to be addressed. These challenges and marketing issues can be best summed up by a decision on what brand the product will be home to, whom the product will be marketed to, the ingredients and formulation of the product, the packaging of the product, can the product perform well enough in a sales forecast plan to exceed a $30 million dollar hurdle rate, and finally to launch or to test market the product. After reviewing Apollo Food’s data, their market research findings, and sales forecasts. A decision plan that addresses all of the key issues and marketing points has been created and will be