China and Chocolate

[Randy W]

In my own experience, there is ALWAYS more Western branded chocolate available than I care to eat

 

This is from the Sixth Tone

 

Why the Chinese Are Still Not Sweet on Chocolate

 

Pitching European-style products as luxury brands won’t change sugar-shunning consumer habits.

 

 

Manufacturers do not give Chinese customers a reason to incorporate their products into their daily consumption habits.

The problem, however, was that the world’s leading chocolatiers had already set foot on Chinese soil decades ago. In the late 1970s, as China set a course for reform, Hershey and Nestlé executive Lawrence Allen excitedly noted the business opportunities to be had in a country of nearly 1 billion people, most of whom had never tried chocolate before. But even after half a century of market development, the Chinese still have not come around to chocolate.

This is largely related to China’s traditional food culture. First, culinary history has never especially emphasized saccharine desserts, focusing instead on balancing the five tastes: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. Moreover, the philosophy of Chinese traditional medicine advises against excessive sugar consumption. And finally, mealtimes in China tend to lack a specially designated dessert course.

 

Today, China’s chocolate market remains dominated by five global companies that all got a foot in the door back in the 1980s: Mars, Nestlé, Hershey, Cadbury, and Ferrero Rocher. . . .

 

Extolling the history and culture of chocolate must aim to reduce China’s Eurocentric attitudes toward it. Removing the “European luxury” tag and showing a willingness to adapt products will convince today’s Chinese that chocolate can be an everyday commodity and dispel the whiff of colonialism that hangs about their branding strategies. Only then will Chinese people finally be convinced to fork out cash for sweet treats and embrace their inner chocoholic.