Market Analysis:
Industry:
Europe dominates the consumption of cocoa in the world. The United States is the second leading country in the world for Cocoa drinkers and imports nearly twenty percent of cocoa every year as part of its net imports. The leading country is Croatia and this is because chocolate has been part of their culture and is a delicacy there. The list of the top regions of the world that drink Cocoa is as follows:

World Consumption of cocoa:
1. Europe – 49.32%

2. North America – 24.22%
3. (United States only – 20.19%)

4. Asia and Oceania – 14.49%

5. South America – 8.68%

6. Africa – 3.28%

The Cocoa Industry has grown at an average annual rate of 1.8% to $840.4 million in the past five years. Demand for cocoa is growing. Assuming 2% annual growth, the world will require at least one million more metric tons to meet needs by 2020. Demand and revenue are primarily determined by demand from supermarkets and grocery stores, which is ultimately driven by consumer spending and preferences. Although the industry has posted overall growth in the past five years, the recession hurt the industry as people stopped buying desired goods and resorted to only basic needs. But since 2010 consumers have had more spending money and, thus, have been willing to spend it on added benefit beverages like cocoa and drinking chocolate, boosting industry revenue. The industry is experiencing a flourishing time period but while demand is increasing rapidly, the supply is declining just as quickly and causing a period of unsustainability if proper actions are not taken. Underinvesting, fragmentation, and underperforming farms are the key issues preventing cocoa industries from taking advantage of their market potential. Taking these considerations into mind, this market has the potential to create massive profits because demand keeps increasing.

Market Trends:

In addition to the market of cocoa being unsustainable over the past five years, health consciousness and food trends have impacted the industry as well. Consumers are being more cautious about their health and are paying more and more attention to the foods that they consume. There is a link between excessive sugar intake and health issues, consumers have been more cautious about cocoa and drinking chocolate with high amounts of sugar. In response, many producers developed specialty and high-end dark chocolate, white chocolate, baking chocolate, sweet chocolate, organic cocoa and drinking chocolate. Linked with increasing demand, chocolate such as those previously listed enable Sable’s Sipping Sumptuous Cocoa to takeover a large portion of the potential market. Product developments combined with studies focusing on the benefits of cocoa consumption renewed consumer demand and helped sustain revenue growth in recent years. As of now, the market opportunity and growth potential is there for SSSC, but it is critical to focus on one market segment for the next year to increase the market share and build loyal customers within that group over the next year. After establishing successful brand name and obtain customers loyal to the Sable’s Sipping Sumptuous Cocoa Brand, the sky is the limit.

Target Market/Consumer Analysis:

We have selected the age group of 42 through 52 years old to be our target market for Sable’s Sipping Sumptuous Cocoa for the upcoming year of 2014-2015.

Researchers have found that the older generations watch a considerable amount more of television than any younger generation. The age group of 62 through 72 watches the most television out of all the age groups. The age group of 42 through 52 falls slightly behind them with an average of 38 hours and 48 minutes of television a week. This means that on average this age group watches roughly 5 hours and 52 minutes of commercials a week and roughly 1,160 commercials during the weeks span. 78 percent of this age segment is also involved with at least one form of social