BA-223-0-10288

Market Chosen: Chocolate

Segmentation Model: Demographics by Region

Chocolate is an 83 billion industry worldwide (“Who Consumes the Most Chocolate?” 2012).

Segments

Europe: 49.32% = 40.94 Billion

North America: 24.22% = 20.10 Billion

Asia and Oceania: 14.49% = 12.03 Billion

South America: 8.68% = 7.20 Billion

Africa:  3.28% = 2.72 Billion

Reasoning

Chocolate is the most popular where it is the rarest and the country with the most wealth. In an article by Slate Magazine, the writer reports on why Switzerland consumes and produces the most chocolate products. “Few cocoa-producing countries are big chocolate consumers because chocolate is a luxury,” notes Brian Palmer, “wealthy Western Europe constitutes 6 percent of the world’s population, but eats 45 percent of its chocolate.” Africa, which produces 2/3’s of the world’s chocolate (Maverick), only consumes 3.28% of the product. Many South American countries such as Peru and Mexico are the top exporters of cocoa, which explains why South America is the second least consumer of chocolate.

References

Mattyasovszky, Miklos. “Top 10 Cocoa Producing Countries.” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 22 Apr. 2015, www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-cocoa-producing-countries.html.

Maverick, J.B. “The 4 Countries That Produce the Most Chocolate.” Investopedia, Investopedia, LLC., 30 Sept. 2015, www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/093015/4-countries-produce-most-chocolate.asp.

Palmer, Brian. “Switzerland Is the Last Place on Earth Where You’d Grow Cocoa. So Why Do the Swiss Eat So Much Chocolate?” Slate Magazine, The Slate Group, 11 Oct. 2012, www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/10/nobel_prize_and_chocolate_why_the_swiss_eat_and_produce_so_much_chocolate.html.

“Who Consumes the Most Chocolate?” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 Jan. 2012, thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/who-consumes-the-most-chocolate/.