The country’s chocolate industry is expected to cross the Rs 7,500-crore mark by 2015, thanks to the rising consumption in urban and semi-urban areas, an industry body study has said.
At present, the Indian chocolate market is about Rs 4,500 crore, Assocham said in its study. “The consumption of chocolates is steadily increasing in urban and semi-urban areas, registering a compound annual growth rate of 25 per cent. It is expected to cross Rs 7,500 crore by 2015,” Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
He said ahead of the festival season, the demand of chocolates has increased by 35 per cent compared to the last year mainly in urban areas due to shift in preference from traditional mithai to chocolates.
Besides, he said, rising income levels and attractive chocolate packing coupled with reasonable pricing are other reasons for the growth.
The industry caters to a large number of consumers with over 65 per cent of the consumption in the urban market, the study said.
It said that the key challenges which the Indian chocolate market is facing are inflationary pressures on raw-material prices, price-sensitive consumers and high entry barriers due to duopolistic market.