Montreaux Chocolate USA: Are Americans Ready For Healthy Dark Chocolate?
Montreaux Chocolate USA: Are Americans Ready For Healthy Dark Chocolate?
Montreaux Chocolate USA: Are Americans Ready For Healthy Dark Chocolate?
• Chocolate Consumption Spanned Age, gender(Women 94% > Men 90%) and
household income groups
• Target Market : 45-64 Age (Premium and Speciality Chocolates) . Spend more
when buying for others. High income groups like boxed chocolate . More Buying
during Sale
• Shifted to Dark Chocolate as people grew older
• Loyal Fanbase : Females of age 45-64, College Educated ,Married + Children,
Income of $50000+, Concerned about health and weight & more likely to eat than
gift
What Motivated Consumers to Purchase Chocolate
Positive Experience – Personal Reward , Mood Enhancement
Women – Reacted positively to new ingredients and flavours , purported benefits of improved
cardiovascular fitness and lower blood pressure
Men – Reacted positively to price and practical characteristics like energy boosters , quick easy
and convenient
Premium Chocolates were believed to offer better taste and greater flavour variety as per women
against men
New Product Development At Montreux
NPD objective: To achieve National Distribution of
Montreaux Chocolate and to continue significantly in
chocolate business in US
Partner with Nielsen BASES to quantitatively assess and
optimize the new dark chocolate
BASES Model for project volume potential of new product :
1. Product opportunity and strategy
2. Strong Consumer Viability
3. Deliver the Financial Potential
BASES IDEA SCREENING TEST
Four factor which that promote the foundational strength of an initiative:
• Distinct Proposition
• Attention Catching
• Need/Desire
• Advantage
BASES SNAPSHOT CONCEPT TEST
After the initial screening Montreaux decided to further prioritize the concept
lines preliminary indicators as well as improving optimization
Without actual product tasting, total of 200 consumers were asked to evaluate
the concept they viewed online and provide feedback to identify which
concepts have stronger potential in the market
Dark chocolate with fruits concept was identified as attractive and relevant
Blueberry, cranberry and pomegranate was decided to be top flavours by the
team
After this testing, NPD team gave development priority to chocolate with fruits
concept, one with 70% cocoa and other with 90%
FOCUS GROUPS
After reducing product formulation to manageable size, NPD made 2 varieties of chocolate
bars with different sizes and conducted eight focus groups to determine optimal level of cocoa
Qualitative research found out consumers preferred 70% cocoa bar more than other and the 3
fruits were also top preferred ones. Healthfulness was given most importance in the offering
MARKETING ISSUES
Health benefits and taste were major attributes for positioning the product
One positioning issue was the consumer’s perceptions about the Montreaux chocolate brand
vs its primary competitors
Also for size and packaging, some consumers preferred the smaller square for portion control
while some want standard 3.5 ounce candy bar, NPD needed to choose one size of the two
Second BASES Snapshot Concept Test
A total of 200 consumers per concept were asked to
evaluate concepts they viewed online and give feedback