Mars Bars seen on the shelves of a convenience store in Sydney July 2, 2005. – RTXNM5S
(Reuters) – Confectionery company Mars Inc sees world chocolate consumption growing by more than 3 percent in the coming year, outpacing long-term trends, driven by Asian demand.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Cocoa Conference in Amsterdam, Andy Harner, global cocoa vice president, said that chocolate demand growth has already been above the long-term trend rate of 2.5 to 3 percent for the past three years and would continue to be so in 2014/15.
“In terms of percentage gains in chocolate consumption it’s led by Asia Pacific where there’s double-digit growth,” Harner said.
“The industry’s medium-term 3-to-5-year forecast sees that continuing.”