Chocolate sales are staying sweet, finds Mintel research

Other figures found that 90% of consumers say that they 'regularly' eat chocolate. Today 87% of men say they eat chocolate, compared to 91% of women and while over half of consumers claimed they preferred milk chocolate in 2008 – this dropped to just 35% in 2009. In addition, consumers claiming that dark chocolate is healthier has increased from 23% in 2008 to 35% in 2010. Vivianne Ihekweazu, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel, said: "Chocolate rode out the recession, with consumers turning to it as a low cost comfort food. And the good news for National Chocolate Week is that the chocolate confectionery market is continuing to see growth, as UK consumers remain a nation of chocolate lovers. But challenges for the market are on the horizon." Meanwhile the amount of consumers who say they look for fair trade chocolate has remained steady, from 35% in 2008 to 36% in 2009. In addition, ethical is now the third most popular claim for new chocolate products and 25% of new chocolate products launched in the UK in 2009 carried this claim. Ihekweazu continued: "Issues such as rising commodity prices and the VAT price rise in 2011 will increase cost across all confectionery products and inevitably pass these onto the consumer. However, our over-riding desire for indulgence will keep the chocolate category going, helped by continued new product development." National Chocolate Week is running from 11-17 October 2010.