Big Chocolate versus Small Batch

Big Chocolate versus Small Batch

Author: Marisa Mudge May 2015

Figure 2 (Bean, nd)

 “Big Chocolate” is used to describe multi-national food producers. Cargill, Barry Callebaut and ADM. Together they control 40% of global cocoa processing and supply chocolate to industrial food companies that use chocolate in their products. Mars Incorporated, Nestlé, Hershey, Mondelez International, and Ferrero together control 57.4% of the chocolate market.

Top 10 “Big Chocolate” Companies

Mars, Inc: Brands- Snickers, Mars Bar, Milky Way, M&Ms, and Twix

Nestl USA: Brands- Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Kit Kat, Milky Bar, Matchmakers, Nestl Crunch, Oh Henry, and the Wonka Bars

Ferrero SpA: Brands- Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Mon Cheri, and Giotto

Cadbury (Kraft): Brands- Cadbury, Fry's and Green & Black's

The Hershey Company: Brands- Hershey's Milk Chocolate, Hershey's Special Dark and Hershey's Cookies & Cream

Barry Callebaut AG: Brands- Sarotti in Germany, Jacques in Belgium and Alprose in Switzerland

Kraft Foods, Inc: Brands- Toblerone and Oreo

Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprngli AG: Brands –Lindor

Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd: Brands - Hello Panda and Yan Yan

 Russell Stover Candies Inc: Brands – Russell Stover

(O'Coughlin, 2009)

The “Big” mass market chocolate companies must compete on a global scale and typically at competitive price points.  Big chocolate can offer lower priced chocolate and maintain profitability because they lower the cost and quality of the inputs. Mass produced chocolates may contain more than the basic ingredients in an attempt to lower cost.  Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solids content or by substituting cocoa butter with another fat.  Wax may be used to achieve a high gloss instead of the more costly tempering technique. “Big Chocolate” will abandon quality and technique in exchange for lower costs and higher margins.

Small-batch producers are interested in producing a high quality premium chocolate. Craft Chocolate contains a simple list of ingredients: pure cacao, butter, cacao powder and a sweetener. This craft makers produce in small batches and often from beans they have personally sourced. A small batch producer will use between 2 and 200 MT of cocoa beans per year. They will make bean-to-bar chocolate in one facility using traditional techniques

Small batch chocolate and Big chocolate have different goals. Big chocolate targets the mass market with a medium to low price point. Craft chocolate targets the connoisseur at the premium price point. (Green, 2014)