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opinion

The news last summer that Thorntons was planning to close up

to 180 stores (nearly half its store portfolio) came at a poignant

time in the retailer’s history - it was announced in the year that the

company celebrated its centenary. Things have not

improved for the retailer, which recently announced that half year

profits had slumped by a whopping 92 per cent in the six months

to Christmas.

Although the retail market, in general, is facing tough

times given the difficult and uncertain economic landscape,

the chocolate sector has its own unique problems and set of

challenges. One of the most noticeable developments has

been the marked polarisation between mid market retailers and

specialist chocolatier-type boutique offers.

Thorntons has been a clear victim of this trend in polarisation.

Over the years, its sales through supermarkets grew and grew,

making it more difficult for its standalone stores to compete and

develop a proper narrative, and having a rather bland in-store

experience only served to exacerbate the situation, making the

retailer less relevant and receptive to changing consumer trends.

In contrast, these new boutique-type offers are brimming with

innovation, not just in terms of product development, but with their

store environments and marketing approach, and are creating

a much more immersive, interactive and personalised customer

experience and conversation.

We are now witnessing some of the big ‘corporate’ chocolate

brands creating niche offers to target the growing trend towards

personalisation and luxury. Nestle has developed Maison Cailler

- a new luxury brand that offers a unique profiling system that

consumers can use to discover their ‘chocolate personality’ and

share the result with their friends online. Within 48 hours of using

the service, customers are sent a box of Maison Cailler chocolates

that have been carefully selected to match their individual

preferences. This means that the brand can retain an ongoing

relationship with the consumer.

In addition to its online activity, Maison Cailler ‘profiling

stations’ will be set up in a variety of luxurious locations around

Switzerland, such as five star hotels. The temporary booths will

give people the opportunity to take the chocolate personality

tests with a friend in relaxed and comfortable surroundings. A

new flagship store will open outside the existing Maison Cailler

chocolate museum in Broc, where visitors will also be able to

discover their chocolate personality.

This is a clear example of a brand tapping into key consumer

trends of personalisation, new luxury (quality, individualism and

craft) and authenticity.

At the other end of the Nestle brand spectrum, the company is

turning to ‘crowd sourcing’ as a means to engage with consumers

as well as allowing them to be co-participants in deciding a

new flavour for their range of chunky Kit Kat bars. This was

also accompanied by an AR (Augmented Reality) marker on

packaging, enabling consumers to vote for their favourite flavour.

Meanwhile, over in the States, the co-founder of Wired

magazine has launched Tcho, a new chocolate ‘start up’ in San

Francisco. Tcho combines many elements of classic Silicon Valley

innovation: its approach to working with farmers, the re-thinking of

the chocolate lexicon, and its approach to raising money.

Its 50-gram dark chocolate ‘beta’ (prototype) bars, which are

co-created by customers, are sold only locally at first to those who

have signed up on the Tcho website, and only to those willing to

go and pick up the chocolate at Tcho’s headquarters - so not

your typical retailer approach! It now operates a nationwide mail

order service and has a retail outlet at its 1,395 sq m converted

warehouse on the San Francisco waterfront.

However, contrary to popular belief, innovation is not just

restricted to the online/digital world, new store formats and retail

offers are emerging and taking the chocolate experience to new

levels. The most notable of these being Hotel Chocolat - originally

launched as a catalogue retailer, then a web-based business, it

now has around 65 stores in the UK as well as 35 concessions in

John Lewis stores and two outlets in the U.S. Its boutique hotel on

its plantation estate in St Lucia also has a retail element.

Selling and living the ‘full cocoa experience’ right from the

company-owned plantation to its store environments, Hotel

Chocolat has brought a gourmet experience to buying chocolate.

As well as having a high quality product and store environment,

the retailer has developed and grown customer loyalty, passion

and engagement through its Tasting Club subscription service.

More than 100,000 members pay a monthly fee to receive a new

selection of chocolates and are invited to give their feedback.

Other Hotel Chocolat activities include a cacao cuisine street

food café in London’s Borough Market, which serves authentic

cocoa tea, savoury and sweet cacao wraps and a range of Rabot

The future of chocolate retailing:

As Easter approaches, Liz McShane of Portland Design delves into the world of chocolate retail and considers the key ingredients to a sweet, successful future for the sector.

More sweetthan bitter

www.retail-focus.co.uk

35

opinion

Estate small batch chocolates.

At the brand’s cocoa estate in Saint Lucia, they have opened

Boucan - a full dining experience centred around an innovative,

light and healthy cacao cuisine menu - and this has been

complemented by the opening of their plantation chic hotel

last December.

The company’s latest venture, Roast & Conch - the ‘coffee

vs cocoa bar’ concept in London’s Covent Garden - links cocoa

growing, chocolate making and tasting in one location, and is a

first for London. Hotel Chocolat has teamed up with Monmouth

Coffee to offer a drinks menu written in familiar coffee language -

the twist being that customers can decide whether they would like

their latte, flat white or cappuccino prepared with cocoa freshly

roasted on the premises or with traditional coffee beans.

Cocoa lovers can also try out Roast & Conch’s bespoke

‘cacao cuisine’ menu, offering a range of warm cocoa wraps and

open salad sandwiches, as well as a unique chocolate and wine

dining experience.

So, applying and adapting some of the techniques of coffee

brands has allowed brands to create a whole new product and

service culture around chocolate.

In addition to Hotel Chocolat, a number of smaller,

haute-couture chocolate retail brands have continued to

re-define the art of chocolate retailing; these include L’Artisan du

Chocolat and Cocomaya.

L’Artisan du Chocolat has developed the whole chocolate

experience from a daytime into an evening activity with its cocoa-

based cocktails, and has also developed some chocolate-based

beauty products aligning itself with the sophisticated adult world

of beauty and fashion.

Reinforcing the connection between fashion and the new

generation of chocolatiers, Cocomaya Fine Chocolatier & Artisan

Baker is the brainchild of two highly influential players in the

fashion industry. Sharing a love of fine chocolate and authentic

artisan baking, they have created a very paired down space in

which to enjoy afternoon tea and some of the finest chocolates.

So, these are just more examples to prove that chocolate can

be a sophisticated, grown up experience while at the same time

being playful and fun.

Exciting times lie ahead for the chocolate sector as a new

generation of retailers and brands invent a new language and

approach. The key ingredients for future success will be to have

intimate knowledge of your customers - this will be more important

then ever in our permanently connected world - and brands will

need to build strong relationships with customers and encourage

bonding around their products. Allowing feedback, dialogue and

co-creation will be key in attracting, retaining and stimulating

customer interest and repeat purchase. The future doesn’t have to

be bitter, it can be sweet.

www.portland-design.com

Hotel Chocolat is selling and living ‘the full cocoa experience’, from

the company-owned plantation to its store environments.

www.retail-focus.co.uk