First, the situation of the chocolate market in China. At present, the domestic chocolate market mainly displays as follows:

1. China will soon become the chocolate market with the greatest development potential and the fastest growth rate in the world.

In China with a population of1400 million, chocolate is developing rapidly with an annual growth rate of 10- 15%, and the market consumption potential is as high as 20 billion yuan. As long as the annual per capita consumption of chocolate in China reaches 1 kg, it will be the largest chocolate market in the world.

The chocolate market in China will develop rapidly, which is an excellent opportunity for domestic chocolate manufacturers. However, in the face of the situation that foreign brands have occupied a dominant position, domestic chocolate manufacturers can only compete and blend with international chocolate enterprises on the same platform by continuously improving product quality, selecting raw materials and upgrading equipment, connecting with the international market in technology, paying attention to market innovation, establishing extensive marketing network and strengthening brand management, and breaking through the oligopoly of chocolate industry.

The importance of China market lies in that it is an undeveloped chocolate market with great potential and exciting growth opportunities in the coming decades. At present, the annual consumption of chocolate in China is about 3 billion yuan, and the annual consumption per capita is about 40 grams to 70 grams. The market value of about $350 million seems huge, but in fact it only accounts for 0.5% of the international market. Europe consumes more than 7 kilograms of chocolate per capita every year, while South Korea and Japan in Asia consume an average of 2 kilograms. It is generally believed in the industry that the chocolate market in China will have an annual growth rate of 10% to 15%.

According to the statistics of Shanghai sweet food market by FMCG Research Center in 2005, chocolate is the largest part of the sweet food market, accounting for 465,438+0% of the whole sweet food market, followed by candy: 30%, chewing gum: 20% and functional candy: 9%.

2. At present, there are still many problems in chocolate produced in China.

Less brands and single taste; Improper selection of chocolate processing equipment and incomplete supporting facilities; Problems such as weak product development strength and slow product upgrading have always been unable to get rid of the embarrassing situation that the quality and taste are not satisfactory and can only wander in the low-end market. Since 1990s, the famous foreign chocolate manufacturers who have entered the China market one after another have obviously occupied the dominant position in the whole chocolate market. With their strong economic strength, they have created scientific and cultural brands, emphasized the excellent quality and unique taste of products, and quickly occupied the market. Judging from the industry concentration, the most important index to divide the market structure, the four major chocolate enterprises occupy nearly 70% of the market share.

In this way, on the one hand, the chocolate market in China will develop rapidly, and domestic chocolate manufacturers will face an excellent opportunity. On the other hand, most of the country will be occupied by foreign brands. Therefore, how to fundamentally improve the quality of domestic chocolate and enhance the brand competitiveness of domestic chocolate is a problem that domestic chocolate manufacturers have been thinking and paying attention to.

3. It has become an inevitable trend for China enterprises to build chocolate brands.

From a global perspective, the price of products is becoming less and less a hot spot of competition in the chocolate industry. Improving raw materials, developing new flavors, concentrating brands and continuously shortening the distance with consumers have become new development trends. Some experts have summed up the three characteristics of today's international chocolate market: selecting raw materials (especially milk); Improve technology and develop new tastes; Brand management. All three are closely related to quality. We look at the development trend of chocolate manufacturers in China from three aspects.

First of all, from the aspects of raw material selection and equipment upgrading. For a long time, domestic chocolate has the problems of single variety and mediocre taste. In recent years, domestic manufacturers are committed to the selection of raw materials, deodorization and refining of materials. For example, Yake Food Co., Ltd., one of the largest candy manufacturers in China, selects first-class cocoa beans from Ivory Coast in West Africa and high-quality milk powder from natural pastures in New Zealand, cooperates with advanced equipment imported from Italy and Germany, and adopts special processing technology of fine grinding and refining to make the products present attractive taste. The wonderful chocolate just launched is even more attractive. In order to adapt to the consumption trend of international chocolate products, domestic chocolate is made into new products by mixing chocolate base with crispy cereal products, low-calorie candy or fruit and vegetable products. The professional concept similar to sports chocolate has also been widely adopted by domestic candy chocolate enterprises, including Yake, and high-quality functional chocolate has been introduced.

The second is to take the initiative in technology and connect with the international community. Chocolate is an exotic product, and domestic chocolate is really lacking in production technology and technical accumulation. But now some domestic chocolate enterprises have begun to take the initiative and actively cooperate with foreign professional and technical institutions. Yake is a good example.

The third aspect is to strengthen brand management and establish a wide marketing network. Playing technology and culture cards is an important means for foreign brands to occupy the market. Moreover, imported brands of chocolate have invested a lot of money in advertising, trying to establish their own brand image with the help of the media. Compared with foreign brands from afar, some national enterprises have begun to rely on national culture and ideas to strengthen the connotation of their own brands.

4. Competition pattern of chocolate market in China.

Compared with the highly competitive chocolate market in Europe and America, the chocolate market in China has a low degree of competition, few competitive products and great development potential. Such a market is undoubtedly a huge cake, which naturally makes western chocolate giants salivate. At present, the top 20 global heavyweight chocolate enterprises have all entered China, and there are more than 70 imported or joint-venture chocolate brands in Shanghai supermarkets. The continuous addition of imported chocolate brands has accelerated the evolution of China chocolate market to international competition.

Competitive enterprises are divided into three camps: the first camp is foreign brands represented by Dove, Cadbury, Hershey and Ferrero, which occupy most of the high-end chocolate market; The second camp is a joint venture brand represented by Di Chin and Kaiser Vuitton, which dominates the mid-range chocolate market; The third camp is represented by local brands such as Kamikaze and Golden Monkey, occupying the main share of the low-grade chocolate market. The sales momentum of imported and joint venture brands is strong, while the performance of domestic brands is poor: whether it is high-altitude brand communication, advertising, low-end product marketing, market vividness and sales promotion, both imported and joint venture brands occupy a prominent position in market share and product popularity. Except for Di Chin Chocolate, Kamikaze and Caesar Vuitton, other brands performed poorly.

2. Comparison between domestic chocolate enterprises and international chocolate enterprises.

1. Advantages and disadvantages analysis of foreign-funded enterprises

Main advantages

(1) Origin and advantages of origin: Chocolate was born in Central America and is popular in Europe and America. The world recognized top chocolate is produced in Switzerland. Swiss chocolate manufacturers Mars, Hershey and Nestle account for more than 70% of the global market. Chocolate is authentic only in Europe and America, which is the consumer psychology that any local enterprise can't change in a short time.

(2) Advantages of technology and products: 1828 The cocoa butter squeezed by Van Holten in the Netherlands was mixed with chopped cocoa beans and white sugar, and the world's first chocolate was born. The chocolate production technology of the big chocolate countries in Europe and America has gone through 175 years, and the processing technology and technology of chocolate have been forged to perfection, with thousands of varieties and specifications, and 300-500 new products are born every year, which makes.

(3) Brand and marketing advantages: The top 20 chocolate brands in the world have been deeply rooted in consumers' minds after decades or even hundreds of years of marketing in many countries and regions around the world, and occupy an important position in consumers' minds. These brands often have rich experience in marketing, sales and communication with consumers as well as a set of scientific and meticulous marketing, advertising and terminal operation models.

(4) Strength and resource advantages: Foreign chocolate enterprises entering the China market are often heavyweight enterprises in the world food industry and well-deserved food predators. They not only control the source of high-quality raw materials, but also have great advantages in capital, technology, talents and resources. For example, Nestle is the largest food company in the world, with annual sales of 44 billion US dollars, and Mars is the seventh largest food company in the world with annual sales of 65,438+.

Main disadvantages

(1) Lack of understanding of China market: the understanding and grasp of China market circulation system, market structure, distribution channels and methods in small and medium-sized cities, regional differences, consumer psychology, consumer behavior, food culture and taste differences are not comprehensive, concrete and true enough.

(2) Consumers' misunderstanding of chocolate: Because they don't know enough about chocolate, consumers generally think that chocolate is a kind of candy with high sugar and high calorie, which will not only make people fat, but also lead to misconceptions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which makes some consumers want to eat, but dare not eat.

Market strategy

With Mars Company in the United States as a typical representative, foreign chocolate enterprises are superior to domestic chocolate enterprises in terms of market operation methods, skills and strategies. They don't take sales in one place as their only goal, but pay attention to long-term market share and brand building and management in China market. Their common strategy is:

(1) Supported by strong financial strength, it spends a lot of money to build a high brand awareness with huge advertising investment, public relations and event marketing. For example, in 2000, the top ten advertisements in the domestic chocolate industry were all divided by Dove, Cadbury, Hershey and Ferrero, among which the advertising expenses of brands such as Dove of Mars Company were as high as 50 million yuan.

(2) Attach great importance to marketing human resources. They believe that only first-class marketers can do things that other companies can't do, and first-class marketers must have first-class salary and treatment. Therefore, they often recruit first-class marketers at a price several times higher than that of the industry to create first-class sales performance. With strong brand power and first-class human resources, these multinational giants have advantages in dealer recruitment, distribution, circulation, terminal sales, product display and promotion.

2. Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of local enterprises

Main advantages

Understanding the external environment, China market and consumers' psychology: As a native local enterprise, it is natural to know the domestic external environment such as politics, law, economy, culture, technology and nature like the back of one's hand, and at the same time, it has an accurate grasp of China's market structure, market circulation system, consumers' buying behavior and psychology, which are all Zen opportunities that foreign devils who enter China are hard to understand in a short time.

Main disadvantages

(1) Technology and products: Compared with the history of chocolate processing and manufacturing technology in Europe and America for hundreds of years, the history of chocolate production in China is less than half a century, and there is still a considerable gap between China and foreign famous brands in terms of taste, packaging and other technologies. Outstanding performance in the single variety of chocolate, single taste, improper selection of chocolate processing equipment, incomplete supporting facilities, weak product development, slow product upgrading.

(2) Consumer psychology: In the subconscious of consumers in China, chocolate is totally imported, and only chocolate in Europe and America is truly authentic. Consumers think that domestic chocolate is not on the same level as imported chocolate in quality and taste.

(3) Marketing resources: Due to the lack of sufficient financial strength, local enterprises generally lack marketing resources such as product research and development, technological innovation, human resources, advertising, marketing and promotion.

III. Overview of the chocolate market

1. Chocolate consumption is a market with great development potential in China.

For China, chocolate is a relatively new food. It has a history of more than 50 years in China. Large-scale production began in the 1970s and developed rapidly in the 1990s. So far, the output is not very large. According to the preliminary statistics of the industry, the national total output is about 70,000 tons. The per capita consumption is about 50-60 grams. In developed countries such as Japan, the average per capita is 7 kg, while in Europe, the average per capita is basically above 10 kg. It can be said that the domestic development is very fast, but there is a big gap. The development of chocolate is related to the standard of living. With the improvement of living standards, consumption will gradually expand. In recent years, the per capita income of the country has gradually increased, and the next 3-5 years will also be the stage of rapid development of chocolate in China.

2. Brand competition in the domestic market is at the low end.

At present, domestic chocolate still has few brands and single taste; Improper selection of chocolate processing equipment and incomplete supporting facilities; Problems such as weak product development strength and slow product upgrading can never get rid of the embarrassing situation that the quality and taste are not satisfactory and can only wander in the low-end market.

3. International brands play a huge role in the domestic market.

The entry of international brands has promoted the consumption of chocolate by domestic consumers and promoted the development of domestic chocolate market. Its advanced management concept, high-quality products and exquisite packaging have all prompted China chocolate brands to constantly improve themselves.

However, international brands also have disadvantages. They don't understand the local culture of China, and they have misunderstandings about consumers' positioning. For example, the famous Red Bull beverage failed in the China market because of its high price positioning. First, the understanding and grasp of China's market circulation system, market structure, distribution channels and methods in small and medium-sized cities, regional differences, consumer psychology, consumer behavior, food culture and taste differences are not comprehensive, concrete and true enough. Second, the quality and grade of chocolate of famous foreign brands are relatively good, but some imported chocolates are common foreign brands, and the quality may not be as good as that produced by domestic enterprises. Third, the freshness of chocolate produced abroad is not as good as that produced at home. If it is a brand product of the same quality, experienced consumers can feel that the freshness of domestic products is better than that of imported products.

4. Domestic consumers have misunderstandings about chocolate.

Due to the lack of understanding of chocolate, consumers generally have the phenomenon that chocolate is a kind of candy with high sugar and high calorie, which will not only make people fat, but also lead to misconceptions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, causing some consumers to want to eat, but dare not eat.

5. Chocolate brands have no major cultural brands.

Chocolate is a product with profound cultural background, including lovers' culture, health culture and gift culture. However, in the current market, the focus of the brand is still the quality of chocolate. For example, Hershey's appeal point is her small size and big taste, Dove's appeal point is the silky feeling of milk, Cadbury's appeal point is smoothness, and wonderful chocolate's appeal point is delicious.

6. Consumers pay more attention to brand and quality.

Although consumers love these two foreign brands of chocolate so much, when asked whether consumers like to eat foreign brands or domestic brands of chocolate, nearly half (45.7%) said that it doesn't matter whether they are foreign brands or domestic brands as long as the products are of good quality and reasonable cost performance. There are also 32. 1% consumers who like foreign brands and 22.2% consumers who like domestic brands. Mainly because foreign brands of chocolate products on the market are generally superior to domestic brands in quality. 93.6% consumers think that the biggest disadvantage of high-grade chocolate products on the market at present is that the price is too high. High price is the main factor affecting the consumption of high-grade chocolate.

7. Gift market

According to the data of CMMS in 2004 (spring), in the chocolate market in China, the proportion of chocolate consumed as a gift accounts for 52.4% of the total consumption. In the gift market, Dove still tops the list with a brand penetration rate of 40.2%, while Cadbury, Di Chin, Hershey, Nestle, Ferriero, Kym and M & amp； Ms, golden monkey, Swiss lotus and other brands ranked behind.

Slightly different from the overall pattern of the chocolate market, in the chocolate gift market, the share of foreign brands has increased, while domestic brands have further shrunk. Ferrero, Kym and Swiss Lotus are world-famous chocolate brands. Among them, Swiss lotus is the most famous chocolate in Switzerland and is recognized as the best chocolate in the world. The characteristics of Swiss lotus products are: using 170 kinds of chocolate ingredients; Adhere to the selection of excellent cocoa beans and cocoa butter; Try to keep the taste of chocolate perfect; Sweet and smooth, it is the best in chocolate. Kym and Ferrero are both Italian Ferrero chocolate brands. Ferriero's products are generally expensive, and it has its own unique product price concept, that is, it pays attention to the material or emotional needs of consumers rather than the price they are willing to pay, and thinks that the price of products is closely related to the image and positioning of products. Therefore, although Kym and Ferriero are expensive, they are consistent with their noble image and supreme quality, so they can finally form a consistent recognition in the hearts of consumers and achieve success.

8. Chocolate consumption develops in the direction of brand.

Brand is a complete experience between consumers and products, and it is a personalized choice of consumers. At the same time, the brand represents high quality, high visibility and reputation. In the chocolate market, only well-known brands can guarantee the raw materials of products. The technology of the product has been greatly improved. As a very special product, chocolate has very high requirements for hedging and logistics. Therefore, only well-known brands can provide this kind of protection to consumers and provide consumers with stable and high-quality products. Chocolate is a very personalized food, which can extend many people's requirements for material and spiritual living standards. The charm of chocolate lies in its sweetness, bitterness and astringency, and its taste represents the experience of life.