Hefty raw material price hike for chocolates

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/4.

The price hike of 2023 continued in 2024, in quite dramatic fashion: the price of cocoa beans practically tripled, starting from USD 4,200/tonne. Raw material prices are forecast to continue climbing this year, albeit at a more moderate pace. All of this, together with fluctuations in sugar prices, other production cost drivers and inflation, is reflected in consumer prices.

Private label brands have made a greater contribution to the decline in chocolate bars and slices than manufacturer brands

Private label sales suffered a bigger blow

Donát Szabó
junior brand manager
Mondelēz Hungária

“As the price difference between private labels and branded products has diminished, consumers are mostly choosing branded products. In 2024 private label chocolate volume sales volumes fell by 12.9% for tablets and by 9.4% for bars”,

informs Donát Szabó, junior brand manager (Milka) of Mondelēz Hungária Kft.

Ágnes Kiss
brand manager
Nestlé Hungária

 Ágnes Kiss, brand manager of Nestlé Hungária Kft.:

“Consumption of chocolate wafer bars is on the rise. I think consumers will buy more of these products this year than last year, because of lower prices and smaller price increases”.

It is good news that the pace of price growth has slowed down compared to previous years and the average price rise in the chocolate bar segment was 7.6%.

Boglárka Balázs, junior product manager of Storck Hungária Kft:

“However, the impact of higher raw material prices is expected to be felt only later. Consumers’ price-sensitivity remains the dominant factor, with purchases increasingly shifting towards lower-priced products”.

The demand for healthier alternatives is growing also in this category

Experience, size and price point

Kitti Lázár
marketing manager
(BOCI)
Cerbona

“Lately innovation work has been concentrating on several areas. One direction is the development of premium and special flavour products that offer consumers an extra experience. Some consumers prefer single-serve, easy-to-eat products, while others are looking for more economical, larger sizes”,

says Kitti Lázár, BOCI marketing manager of Cerbona Élelmiszergyártó Zrt.

Pál Molnár
commercial director
Szerencsi Bonbon

Pál Molnár, commercial director of Szerencsi Bonbon Kft.:

“Size and price point are very important, as consumers are much more careful about when, what and how much they spend. At the point of sale promotions and awareness-raising help and stimulate trial and repurchase”.

Szabina Redele
brand manager
Mondelēz Hungária

Szabina Redele, brand manager of Mondelēz Hungária:

“In order to enhance the consumer experience and value judgement, we introduced new flavours and special packaging last year, and this year we will continue to launch new products in both the table and the bar segments, in terms of size, shape, flavour and packaging”

Harmony of innovation, promotion and marketing

There are many ways to react to the present market situation: by adapting the promotional strategy, upgrading the product selection or strengthening brand communication. Nestlé believes in harmonising these three. They came out with the coconut version of BALATON Express and BALATON Zebra is relaunched after a short break due to strong demand. KITKAT Ball has a cereal ball inside, coated with a delicious cream and chocolate layer. Nestlé believes it is important to build a long-term emotional bond between consumers and its brands.

Last year, the segment of chocolate bars decreased more in volume terms than chocolate tablets, but this trend seemed to turn by December

Storck’s chocolate bar brand, Knoppers, performed really well last year. Last autumn three limited edition variant hit the shops: in the chocolate wafer bar segment two seasonal flavours were added to the assortment: Knoppers Black & White and Knoppers Yogurt. The company’s key product, the Knoppers NutBar has an autumn Dark variant. Storck’s other dominant brand in the category is merci, which is also available in table format.

Fanni Fekete
product manager
Storck Hungária

“The chocolate tablet specialities are available in seven popular flavours”,

adds Fanni Krisztina Fekete, product manager of Storck Hungária Kft.

Plus merci chocolates can also be found on store shelves in smaller “bite-size” packs, she adds, called merci Petits.

Potential in the hazelnut version

Slávka Janeková
portfolio & activation lead
Mars Wrigley
Central Europe

Snickers remains the largest brand in Mars’ chocolate bar portfolio.

“Two years ago we launched Snickers Creamy Smooth Peanut on the Hungarian market with great success. This year we are adding Snickers Creamy Smooth Peanut King, which is a larger size than the standard product containing three bars. We see growing demand for hazelnut flavours in different categories”,

explains Slávka Janeková, portfolio and activation lead of Mars Wrigley Central Europe.

Developing and promoting chocolate tablets and bars is a priority at Szerencsi Bonbon too: they innovated in two key segments in the past 4 years. ZERO% sugar-free products are now available in all segments, as demand from special dietary needs is growing. The 21g milk chocolate-maltitol filled bars are available in 6 different varieties in stores. In the normal (sugar containing) chocolate line 9 new products were launched in the bar/tablet categories in 2022-2024. In 2025 the company is launching two new premium 19g products, pistachio and peanut.

At current cocoa prices, producers expect further price increases

Innovations based on traditions

Attila Szende, marketing director of Stühmer Kft:

Attila Szende
market director
Stühmer

Fruitful gummy candies

Ákos Perjés
chief commercial
officer
Haribo Hungária

According to Ákos Perjés, chief commercial officer of Haribo Hungária Kft. the candy market has weathered the recent storm much better than other categories: it hasn’t contracted but has actually grown. The volume sales growth was essentially generated by the expansion of the gummy candy and marshmallow segment by over 5%. At the same time hard candy suffered the biggest sales loss.

“We are proud that in such a difficult environment the HARIBO brand has been able to grow even more than the gummy candy and marshmallow market, both in terms of value and volume, and our market share is now over 50% in volume”,

informs Ákos Perjés.

He adds that with HARIBO retailers can always present a fresh and attractive offering to the market, which the brand constantly supports with marketing campaigns, promotions and new products. The chief commercial officer’s experience is that consumers – especially young adults – are now looking for the intense, exciting and refreshing taste experiences that sour gummies offer.

HARIBO plays a key role in shaping this trend, so in addition to the company’s sour-coated products such as HARIBO Sour Goldbären and Happy-Cola F!ZZ, they are now also offering a bolder yet playful product from the beginning of this year: HARIBO Mega-Roulette F!ZZ is sour and comes in flow-pack packaging.

Last year, the gummy candy and marshmallow segment grew by over 5%.

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Fun flavours, valuable ingredients – nimm2!

Storck Hungária Kft.’s brand on the candy market is the nimm2 product range, which offers the perfect combination of snacking and vitamins. Each candy contains 6 added vitamins and real fruit juice. Classic nimm2 Smilegummi gummy candy is available in four versions: fruity, extra sour, yogurt and dairy cream coating. As for the nimm2 Smilegummi Softies, they have been given an extra soft filling for an even more intense fruit experience, in classic fruit, yogurt and forest fruit flavours, while the nimm2 Soft is a real taste explosion in three variants: classic fruit, cola-fruit and fizz powder filled. //