Despite the fact that Mars’ share in China’s chocolate confectionery market has been dropping since 2013, the company has held onto their leading position in the market with a 36.7% share in 2017, as Euromonitor’s latest data shows.
The market data provider stated that by the start of 2017, the five biggest international players on the market in Mars, Nestlé, Hershey, Mondelēz and Ferrero had already accounted for a whopping 66% share of China’s chocolate confectionery.
According to Euromonitor, Mars primarily benefits from their balanced brand portfolio, which has a host of well-established brands such as Maltesers, Snickers, M&M’s and Dove, and as such, the company has managed to keep a firm grip on their lead within the category as their various product lined target many different consumer groups.
The company has done so despite waves of customers looking to try more premium products, and Mars – whose brands are predominantly positioned within the low/mid-priced range – have lost half a percentage point of value share in 2017, according to Euromonitor.
Euromonitor’s data has indicated that back in 2013, Mars’ market share was at a staggering 41.1%, only for it to decrease to 39.9% in 2014. It has been a steady decline since, with the company’s shares being at 38.2% in 2015 and 37.2% in 2016, before reaching its current share of 36.7%.
