More Australians eating chocolate (even when it’s a gift for someone else!)
As anybody who has ventured into a supermarket recently would know, Easter is almost upon us. So it’s no surprise that many Australians have chocolate on their mind. Or is Easter just a convenient excuse? After all, the country’s chocolate consumption is on the rise, with more Aussies eating chocolate bars, blocks and boxed chocolates than they were in 2013.
Last year, 68.4% of the population (or just over 13.5 million people aged 14+) ate some kind of chocolate in an average four weeks, up from 65.3% (12.5 million) in 2013, the latest data from Roy Morgan reveals. Consumed by 53.2% of us (up from 47.9% in 2013), chocolate bars are most popular; followed by blocks (41.8%, up from 40.2%) and boxed chocolates (19.2%, up from 16.5%).
Boxed chocolates: giving and sharing
Although boxed chocolates are generally marketed as a gift someone would buy for someone else, nearly three-quarters (73.4%) of Australians who buy them in an average four weeks eat them too. This suggests that giving boxed chocolates is just part of the equation, with the subsequent act of sharing them almost as important—a tasty example of the broader retail trend of ‘experiences over things’ identified in Roy Morgan’s recent Retail-focused State of the Nation report!
Australia’s five best-selling boxed chocolates and % of buyers who eat them
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January-December 2016 (n=14,330). Base: Australians 14+
Curiously, some boxed chocolates experience a higher crossover between buying and eating, as the chart above indicates, with the more ‘luxury’ brands Lindt and Ferrero Rocher being consumed by a higher proportion of buyers than traditional Cadbury’s classics.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says:
It’s safe to say that Australians love their chocolate, and Easter is the ideal time not only to indulge this passion but to share it with others. And it is this act of sharing that gives boxed chocolate its special appeal: not only do those buying it for others experience the satisfaction of brightening someone’s day, but they’re frequently rewarded for their efforts when the receiver offers them their pick of the box!
“Naturally, this is not always the case: some people buy boxed chocolates for themselves, while others (especially around Easter and Christmas) may buy a box for a friend or loved one and receive their own box from someone else—but there’s no doubt that sharing these chocolates adds to the enjoyment.
“In today’s retail landscape, with its gradual shift away from buying ‘things’ in favour of experiences, boxed chocolate offers the best of both worlds.”
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
