Ritter Sport launches exciting new gifting chocolate
Ritter Sport UK & IRE’s latest launch, Delightfuls, brings an exciting new gift option to the chocolate category, full of lots of ‘Delightful’ square chocolate cubes. Perfect for seasonal occasions and self-treating (memoments), the Delightfuls offering is a mid-premium addition to the growing gifting category, priced at MRRP £3.99.
Drawing on Ritter Sport’s UK-specific flavour set, which includes three top chocolate flavours in the UK; Milk, Nut and Caramel, each gift box contains 22 pieces of Ritter Sport’s 100% certified, sustainably sourced chocolate in four individually wrapped Delightfuls flavours. Choco-Crisp’s chunky cubes are delicious crispy and crunchy bites, smothered in Ritter Sport’s creamy milk chocolate. Caramel offers two sweet and decadent caramel layers encased in smooth and creamy milk chocolate. Whole Nut delivers whole, crunchy hazelnut wrapped in a smooth, delicious milk chocolate cube. Whilst Praline provides a smooth but decadent praline encased in creamy milk chocolate, the perfect indulgence in one bite. Delightfuls is the ideal treat for chocolate lovers, as a gift or an at home mini moment for you.
The exciting launch comes after eight consecutive years of value growth for Ritter Sport’s bar formats (currently +11.6% ahead of the market, compared to total tablet / block chocolate market at -4.5%1) which continue to be a driving area of growth within the block chocolate category and gifting/seasonal category. According to Mintel’s 2022 Chocolate Confectionery report, in 2022 total chocolate confectionery was worth an estimated £3.87bn, up from £3.735bn in 2020. Meanwhile, seasonal chocolate was estimated to be worth £886m, up from £747m in 2020. Chocolate is by far the most popular food item to buy as a gift; 79% of people who bought food as a gift purchased chocolate for this purpose in the 12 months to April 2022. With more than 2.25m UK households now buying the Ritter Sport brand2, the launch is set to shake up the gifting aisle.
With a bright and colourful design, in keeping with the Ritter Sport brand, the new Delightfuls come in a bright blue ‘square’ box focusing on the 100% natural ingredients used in each cube, along with the smooth and creamy milk chocolate that’s made with 100% certified sustainable cocoa. Confirming consumers’ growing desire for sustainable chocolate, the 2020 Cargill Survey shows that across 10 European countries, 68% of consumers said they were willing to pay more for a chocolate product made with sustainable cocoa. Consumers also indicated they were willing to pay a premium for chocolate products with sustainability claims, something which is called out explicitly on the new product’s packaging.
Benedict Daniels, Ritter Sport UK & IRE Managing Director, said: “We have a growing and loyal following of our block chocolate after eight years of growth, which has been significantly incremental to the category. Delightfuls brings an exciting new offering for consumers, with an indulgent milk chocolate gifting product that tastes amazing and is perfect for gifting. Entering the market at an opportune moment for our consumers, given Mintel’s report showing chocolate’s continued importance in gifting, the launch marks the expansion of our portfolio in the UK with our Colourful Variety, Nut Selection, Towers ranges.
“Delightfuls gives a new group of consumers the chance to discover, try, and enjoy Ritter Sport’s quality milk, nut and caramel chocolate in individually wrapped pieces, and gives our existing consumers the opportunity to enjoy our chocolate and give it to others in an attractive new format.”
Ritter Sport Delightfuls will be available in Asda, nationwide, from February. Other interested retailers and wholesalers can enquire with Jim Howard at Ritter Sport: j.howard@ritter-sport.co.uk.
Family-owned Ritter Sport is a global manufacturer of high-quality chocolate which uses only sustainable cocoa and 100% natural ingredients. In 2018, they became the first major chocolate manufacturer to source 100% certified, sustainably sourced cocoa, because doing the right things is what it takes to create really good chocolate. Find out more at https://www.ritter-sport.com/en-gb or follow along on socials @Rittersportuk #RitterSportUK.
1 Nielsen Total Coverage, MAT 14.08.21
2 Trend-Emotion 2021, https://de.statista.com; IRI, CAGR 2022-2026
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