Dive Brief:
- Heart-healthy cocoa pill supplements are becoming increasingly popular as concentrated doses provide all the natural health benefits that chocolate does — without the sugar.
- Candy makers and cocoa processors are also seeing the financial benefits of flavanols, or antioxidants found in the cocoa plant, as these companies move to create flavanol-packed supplements like Mars Inc.'s CocoaVia.
- While not all confections companies are jumping onboard, supplements like CocoaVia are seeing massive growth. CocoaVia's sales have tripled over the past year, and heart health supplements drove about double the growth that plain milk or dark chocolate sales have in the past five years, according to Euromonitor data.
Dive Insight:
Among the health-conscious craze, candy manufacturers such as Hershey and Nestle, have gone the route of removing artificial ingredients from their confections, such as Hershey's new formulation of Kisses and milk chocolate bars, which no longer contain artificial flavors. Simplifying ingredients lists to ensure a clean label is another tactic.
Chocolate pills are less traditional, but if sales for CocoaVia demonstrate anything, it's that consumers are willing to pay for the health benefits chocolate offers in supplement form. This could mean maintained sales for chocolate companies despite some consumers turning away from confections. It could also mean turning people on to the health benefits of chocolate.
Still, candy companies have an advantage over processed foods in the battle for consumer interest: candy has always been seen as an indulgence.