What is it about chocolate, and why does it sell so well?
So Easter is done and dusted for another year, and with it the passing but intense focus on all things chocolate and its decadent creations.
But why is it that people react so strongly to chocolate?
Out of the range of available sweet treats, chocolate takes the lions share by a long shot. Global mega-corporation Nestle, which sells a vast range of sweet biscuits, lollies, soft candy and chocolate, reported sales in 2015 of which chocolate made up a whopping 71.2% of all volume. KPMG also reported in 2014 that premium chocolate sales in Australia was growing by 4.7% annually.
In 2014 Roy Morgan Research surveyed Australians aged 14+, asking the question ‘have you purchased chocolate in the last 4 weeks’. We can see major peaks at Christmas, Valentines, and Easter each year largely due to the gifting category, however in the restaurant sector dishes such as chocolate fondant, or with names like death by chocolate or triple chocolate anything are likely to garner the most attention on a dessert menu.
Despite the fact that almost everyone is pre-programmed to react positively to sweet flavours (due to our bodies recognising a concentrated source of energy), chocolate has an appeal that can’t be matched by other sweets. 11 out of 25 of The Herald Sun’s top desserts in Melbourne (2014) contain a chocolate element, whilst the other components vary widely. And these dishes represent the elite of the dessert world; if you were to look at the average family restaurant where the offerings include apple pie, chocolate pudding, and ice cream, you’d expect the chocolate to take an even stronger first place.
When chocolate was first discovered by the Western world, it was a rare South American commodity, coveted by the locals for its energising and mood enhancing properties, which arise from its highly complex chemical makeup containing some 387 identified components, including caffeine, theobromine (a stimulant and mild psychoactive), and phenylethylamine, a compound that has a similar effect to the naturally secreted endorphins which are responsible for effects such as “runners high”. Eating chocolate also stimulates the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that can affect mood, sexual desire and hunger. A lack of serotonin has been linked to depression – so it’s no wonder that sometimes when we are feeling down, we reach for the chocolate to give us a boost and make us feel a little bit better.
When the Spanish brought chocolate back to Europe, it was a luxury drink only affordable by the very rich, and was also marketed for its healthful properties. It was an aspirational item, and its status as a coveted indulgence is partly responsible for the drastic increase in popularity as manufacturing techniques and wider harvesting has made it more readily available. Such can’t be said for other luxury items over the years, such as sports cars, diamond jewellery, or large property estates – but chocolate is the luxury that anyone can afford. The high fat (and now thanks to modern production, sugar) content backs up its ‘indulgent’ feel to our tastebuds and bodies. Although not damaging to our lives the way alcohol or drugs can be, the next time someone claims to be addicted to chocolate, you might consider that they have a justifiable point!
The social role of chocolate, as evidenced by the massive spikes in purchase and consumption around gift-centric holidays, is also a strong driving factor for the popularity of chocolate. It’s again, a luxurious item, that you can afford to give to others, a show of thinking they are special, or showing your gratefulness, and building social bonds. Psychologically, it also has a hold on us an ‘off-limits’ item that we try to disallow ourselves, the more we say we should eat healthy, the stronger its allure. As our focus on nutritional health increases, chocolate sales continue to rise, reflecting not only availability and affordability but desire. We may cut out other things in our efforts to be healthy, but if we want to allow ourselves just one little indulgence, for many people that treat may well be chocolate-related. This is a great thing for restaurants, as people who are consistently “well-behaved” at home, often seek that indulgent experience when dining out with friends or for special occasions, and a chocolate dessert will rarely be negatively received.
Despite the increasing health trend, chocolate will likely hold a strong position for a long time to come, but as the food-focused customer base grows more and more educated the selling points may shift to sustainable and organic farming, fair trade, single origin harvests that highlight the terroir of cacao beans, or more and more premium products that focus on the cocoa content rather than sugar and artificial flavourings like strawberry crème.
References
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5976-chocolate-flavoured-christmas-201412102348
Richardson, T, 2002, “Sweets”