Wen | Yang Qiao of the weekly "Finance and Economics"
Editor| Yang Jie
Can you still eat live bugs in chocolate? Recently, some media reported that a consumer in a certain place in Liaoning ate a bug in the purchase of Dove chocolate, and the bug was still squirming when the package was torn open. The consumer said that the chocolate was purchased from a local hypermarket and was still in its shelf life, although it was a discounted promotion. The consumer reported the matter to the Dove brand, and the response of the customer service was to let it seal the product first and wait, which took two working days to resolve.
Mars (China) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Dove brand, responded to the media that the product may be bitten by mosquitoes in the process of warehousing and logistics, which will cause problems; if the incident is true, the company will pay compensation in accordance with the relevant standards.
It is understood that Dove is a brand of Mars Company, in addition to Dove, Mars also has Snickers, M&M'S and other food brands.
Previously, during the "Double Eleven" period, some consumers also reported that the Dove chocolate products they purchased at Tmall Supermarket had increased, and customer service also told them not to continue to eat the product.
The consumer also said that according to his understanding, the food package increase is caused by the decomposition of microorganisms in the gas, which is a manifestation of food deterioration; but the chocolate packaging he purchased shows that the product is still in the shelf life.
Some insiders pointed out that the appearance of live insects in chocolate is generally that the product is contaminated, and it is possible that there will be problems in the production or circulation links.
And this is not the first time that the food safety incident of Dove Chocolate has occurred. Since 2004, Dove has been exposed to problems such as "green-headed flies" and "dead bugs" in its products.
Previously, Mars had said that the Chinese market is already Mars' second largest market in the world and is the "focus of its development". But its development in the domestic market is not ideal.
Although the domestic chocolate market is almost monopolized by foreign big brands, The two major brands of Dove and Ferrero occupy more than 40% of the domestic market share; but according to Euromonitor International data, since 2016, Dove's share of the Chinese market has begun to decline significantly, and the same decline is Mars' M&M's and Snickers' two star products.
Young consumers' enthusiasm for chocolate food is waning. Now, when it comes to chocolate, many people will associate it with "high sugar" and "fat". CBNData's "Post-95 Online Chocolate Consumption Research" report also shows that due to weight management and health trends, the enthusiasm of post-95 young people for chocolate consumption in the past two years is not high.
Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng believes that China's sugar market is showing a continuous decline and shrinking trend, which is related to the rapid upgrading of domestic consumption, people's emphasis on weight, appearance, and health management, resulting in the downturn in the development of many enterprises; at the same time, enterprises in the speed of innovation and upgrading, iteration, but also can not catch up with the rhythm of consumption upgrading.
In the past two years, Mars Food has also changed coaches in China repeatedly. In July 2019, Mars China President Bo Yi'an retired, and Mak Wai-kin, who had served as the general manager of Mars Chocolate China and the vice president of marketing of Wrigley China, was appointed as the new president of Mars Wrigley China. Just a year and a half later, in December 2020, Larry Feng took office as president of Mars China, and Mak left.
Zhu Danpeng believes that chocolate brands that are more familiar to domestic consumers such as Dove and Snickers belong to the high-end category of products and need to have a very strong brand power, while foreign brands such as Dove Chocolate are currently facing an aging situation.
At present, mid-range chocolate brands are mainly sold through supermarkets and e-commerce channels, while high-end chocolate brands such as Godiva and Nuoshi are mainly sold in gift boxes in various brand stores. In Zhu Danpeng's view, the consumption power of low-end chocolate products is gradually weakening, and the brand's shift to high-end or ultra-high-end products is one of the ways to break the game. "With the upgrading of consumption, consumer demand for high-end chocolate products will increase, and at the same time, this demand is also transitioning to 'all-cocoa' products."