Japan Chocolate Market Outlook, 2022

Japan is the largest confectionery market in Asia with a high per capita consumption of chocolate. The recession in 2009, along with the earthquake and tsunami in year 2011, caused the Japanese economy to significantly retract, which negatively affected consumer spending. A trend observed in all three confectionery categories viz. sugar, chocolate and gum was reduced consumption as consumers opted for smaller packages. Despite larger packs offering less expensive unit prices, consumers desired to spend less while purchasing. As a result, spending on chocolate products also declined. However, chocolate market has recovered a decent amount of sales after 2013, with most of the sales being created in the premium and luxury categories. Japanese consumers are influenced by price but they are unlikely to compromise on the quality and freshness of products for more affordable pricing. Hence, the market has already moved towards luxury chocolates rather than everyday products and the average selling price of chocolate products is even higher than the global average. According to Japan Chocolate Market Outlook 2022", seasonal chocolate market was growing with a CAGR of 7.76% in the last five years, which was highest among all the other categories like boxed assortments, tablets, bagged self-lines/soft-lines and countlines. Valentine's Day contributed to majority of the revenue in this category, followed by other occasions like White Day, Blossom Festival, New Year Eve, etc. Awareness about polyphenol in cacao has changed the perception of Japanese consumers that chocolate is a healthy product. Milk chocolate doesn’t contain much polyphenol, but is high in sugar and fat; hence sales of such chocolates are more or less stagnant. On the other hand, dark chocolate which is rich in polyphenol has become popular in the wake of a recent bean-to-bar trend among chocolatiers. Japan's aging population now seeks confectionery products with functional benefits as a result of rising health concerns. The country has a large chocolate product line that capitalizes on functional chocolate products containing flavonoids rich dark chocolate and chocolate cereal bars with exotic fruit and vegetable flavors, spices, whole grain granola, dried fruit, premium nuts and vitamins. Chocolate manufacturers from around the world are capitalizing on this trend by marketing creative flavors and healthy natural foods. Meiji Holdings, Lotte Confectionery, Morinaga, Fujiya Co. and Nestle are leading players in the Japanese chocolate industry. Chocolate confectionery is expected to be the largest confectionery subsector in Japan over the forecast period. Demographic factors will play an important role in the coming years. With an aging population and declining rates of regeneration, the consumer base for confectionery products is shrinking. The proportion of residents aged 65 and over, who are generally marginal confectionery consumers, has been steadily rising from last few years. Declining population and growing elderly population will have a negative effect on the volume growth of chocolate confectionery too, which is expected to slow down in the forecast period. For this reason, leading Japanese firms are increasingly looking to develop eye catching new products to command more domestic market share and simultaneously expand into markets overseas. Key Category Boxed Assortment Chocolate Seasonal Chocolate Chocolate Tablets Bagged Self-lines/Soft-lines Chocolate Countlines Japan Chocolate Market Outlook, 2022 discusses the following aspects of chocolates in Japan: The report gives an in-depth understanding of chocolate market in Japan: - Global Chocolate Market Outlook - Asia-Pacific Chocolate Market Outlook - Asia-Pacific Chocolate Market Size By Value & Forecast - Asia-Pacific Chocolate Market Size By Volume & Forecast - Asia-Pacific Chocolate Market Segmental Analysis: By Country - Japan Confectionery Market Outlook - Japan Chocolate Market Outlook - Japan Chocolate Market Size By Value & Forecast - Japan Boxed Assortment Market Size By Value & Forecast - Japan Seasonal Chocolate Market Size By Value & Forecast - Japan Tablet Market Size By Value & Forecast - Japan Bagged Self-lines/Soft-lines Market Size By Value & Forecast - Japan Countlines Market Size By Value & Forecast - Japan Chocolate Market Size By Volume & Forecast - Japan Chocolate Market Segmental Analysis: By Company, By Category, By Sales Channel - Pricing Analysis - The key vendors in this market space This report can be useful to Industry consultants, manufacturers and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry. Report Methodology The information contained in this report is based upon both primary and secondary research. Primary research included telephonic interviews with some channel partners of chocolate in Japan. Secondary research included an exhaustive search of relevant publications like company annual reports, financial reports and proprietary databases.