Magazine: Chocolate rabbit sales are hopping

The late Easter and the growing purchasing power of consumers resulted in a very strong season in the market of chocolate figures last spring.

Kitti Végh
brand manager
Nestlé Hungária

Kitti Végh, brand manager of Nestlé Hungária Kft. informed that they expect further sales increase this year. Traditional Easter figures such as rabbit and egg dominate the chocolate figure market. However, shoppers are looking for classic and modern, unusual figures alike.

Franciska Marton
brand manager
Mondelēz

It is characteristic of both the Christmas and Easter seasons that seasonal chocolate figures show up earlier in stores ever year. We learned from Franciska Marton, brand manager of Mondelez seasonal and praline products that demand is going in the direction of premium products. At the same time, private label chocolate figures are gaining ground, and discount supermarkets are becoming more important in sales.

Hajni Bedő, brand manager of Szamos Marcipán Édesipari Kft. talked to Trade magazin about the Easter season getting shorter. Few people are buying gift box products for Easter, but the chocolate figures they are purchasing must be high quality. Packs of many small-sized sweets are also increasingly popular. Pál Molnár, sales manager of Szerencsi Bonbon Kft. spoke to us about the growing number of families that spend the Easter weekend away from home – this entails lower sales; at the same time, the value of gifts bought for 1 person keeps increasing.

This Easter Nestlé will not only have a renewed seasonal portfolio, but new brands will also appear in the Easter product selection. With the 3-product Kitkat offering the company puts something special on the market: these aren’t hollow but filled chocolate figures, with the characteristic crispy bits. The other new brand is L’Atelier, which already came out in tablet form in early 2019, and this Easter a seasonal egg product will turn up in shops. This contains various nuts and dried fruits too. Besides these novelties, the design of Easter Smarties products is revamped as well.

Mondelez is very strong in the filled chocolate egg segment – which is more and more popular – with Milka products, such as Egg’n’Spoon. Sales of plush toy products and various selections are also developing well. Launching the 50g Crispy alpine milk chocolate rabbit was a great success last year, which generated a 35-per cent sales increase in the segment – without cannibalisation. Sales of Easter Mondelez products are growing in the discount supermarket channel too. The company is preparing for this Easter with exciting new products, coming out with innovations in each category – filled eggs, hollow figures and selections.

Pál Molnár
head of sales
Szerencsi Bonbon

Marzipan figures form an important part of Szamos Marcipán’s product selection. There is a great demand for gift packs and for packs with more small products inside. This Easter the iconic heart-shaped Szamos Szívdesszert will get a special Easter design. Heart-shaped desserts will be changed to egg-shaped marzipan desserts, in various formats. Easter hollow chocolate figures will enter the Szamos assortment this season.

Szerencsi Bonbon’s experience is that more innovative solutions are entering centre stage, in terms of both product and packaging. Trends include the pushing forward of dark chocolate, healthy and free-from products. Interestingly enough, sales of candy-type products are also on the rise. The former trend is driven by adults, while the latter’s engine is children. This Easter Szerencsi Bonbon will appear on store shelves with traditional, high-quality milk chocolate rabbit and egg figures, baskets and packs. The company senses a growing demand for quality chocolate, but this trend is more palpable in the market of non-seasonal products. //