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Trade: Romania's chocolate consumption on the rise, market to hit 1 bln euro this year
Romania's chocolate consumption increased significantly driven by the population's higher purchasing power, so that the specific market is expected to hit this year a historic high which could exceed 5 billion lei (about one billion euro), shows a KeysFin survey sent last Wednesday.
The chocolate market turnover was 4.5 billion lei in 2016 and preliminary data indicate an advance of over 20 pct in 2017. According to the survey that looked at the market's evolution since 2012 to date, the main indicator supporting the sector's dynamics is its profitability.
Whereas in 2012 the 786 chocolate manufacturing or distribution companies reported a net profit of 107.3 million lei, the 2017 bottom lines of the 758 companies in the market is estimated at 306.1 million lei.
According to KeysFin, the main manufacturer on the Romanian market is Nestlé, with a turnover of 783.6 million lei, followed at a distance by Kandia Dulce SA with 161.4 million lei, Heidi Chocolat SA with 106.2 million lei, Mueller si Prietenii with 19.1 million lei and Marco Polo (18 million lei).
Overall, most businesses in the chocolate market are based in Bucharest (127), which also boasts the highest consumption in the country, as proves the 870 million lei worth of turnover posted by these companies in 2016. Next comes Ilfov with 54 companies and an aggregate turnover of 540 million lei, Prahova County with 8 companies with a total turnover of 401.8 million lei, Arges County (22 companies / 396.8 million lei), Timis (19 companies / 150.8 million lei), Brasov (13 companies / 90.4 million lei) and Buzau (10 companies / 87.5 million lei). The Alba, Hunedoara and Calarasi counties are at the opposite end of the list.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, per capita monthly average consumption of chocolate, jellied candy and other confectionery in 2016 was 127 grams for approximately 3.17 lei.
Statistics show that there are currently over 90 brands of chocolate in Romania in all price categories: high-end, medium and low-end.