Cadbury Case Study Doc
Strategic Management: Cadbury and the confectionery industry
CADBURY Schweppes, the owner of the Dairy Milk brand, blamed hot weather for the slump in chocolate sales in Britain that is causing mounting alarm in the confectionery industry.
Wilting consumers are to blame for weak sales, said Todd Stitzer, the chief executive of the sweets and soda pop company, who barely mentioned a salmonella food poisoning scandal last summer which forced the company to remove one million chocolate bars from retailers' shelves.
Instead, the American Cadbury boss suggested the whole chocolate market is suffering from unseasonal temperatures as he warned the company's investors that falling sales in the UK since July would hurt the company's profit margins.
However, anxiety is growing among City investors that the entire confectionery sector is under assault from changing consumer tastes and a campaign by grocers to promote healthy eating.
A massive surge in fresh fruit sales alongside weak chocolate and confectionery volumes shows that consumers and retailers are responding to the growing anxiety about sugar in the national diet, said AC Nielsen, the market research consultancy.
"Healthy eating is starting to take hold," said Sue Kilmer, head of communications at Nielsen. “Consumers have greater disposable income and seem happy to spend more to purchase products that are seen as healthier than sweets”.
Cadbury denies any such influence behind the decline in chocolate consumption. It even suggests consumer confidence is returning since the June product recall.
Yesterday Cadbury said the chocolate market as a whole since the beginning of July was 5 per cent below the same period last year but the group insists it is nothing to do with the dodgy chocolate bars. "Our market share is strengthening," said the company.
A snapshot of the chocolate rivals assessed by Nielsen shows that, over the last year market shares in the UK confectionery industry have been as
CADBURY Schweppes, the owner of the Dairy Milk brand, blamed hot weather for the slump in chocolate sales in Britain that is causing mounting alarm in the confectionery industry.
Wilting consumers are to blame for weak sales, said Todd Stitzer, the chief executive of the sweets and soda pop company, who barely mentioned a salmonella food poisoning scandal last summer which forced the company to remove one million chocolate bars from retailers' shelves.
Instead, the American Cadbury boss suggested the whole chocolate market is suffering from unseasonal temperatures as he warned the company's investors that falling sales in the UK since July would hurt the company's profit margins.
However, anxiety is growing among City investors that the entire confectionery sector is under assault from changing consumer tastes and a campaign by grocers to promote healthy eating.
A massive surge in fresh fruit sales alongside weak chocolate and confectionery volumes shows that consumers and retailers are responding to the growing anxiety about sugar in the national diet, said AC Nielsen, the market research consultancy.
"Healthy eating is starting to take hold," said Sue Kilmer, head of communications at Nielsen. “Consumers have greater disposable income and seem happy to spend more to purchase products that are seen as healthier than sweets”.
Cadbury denies any such influence behind the decline in chocolate consumption. It even suggests consumer confidence is returning since the June product recall.
Yesterday Cadbury said the chocolate market as a whole since the beginning of July was 5 per cent below the same period last year but the group insists it is nothing to do with the dodgy chocolate bars. "Our market share is strengthening," said the company.
A snapshot of the chocolate rivals assessed by Nielsen shows that, over the last year market shares in the UK confectionery industry have been as