Products

Willie’s Cacao

Willie’s Cacao Chocolate flavoured bars, available at Candylicious Dubai Mall and Yas Mall, are available in flavours such as Gluscious Orange (orange with honey notes), Cafe Negro (smooth coffee), Sea Flakes (milk chocolate with sea salt), Milk of the Gods (single estate milk chocolate).

Hershey’s spreads

Hershey’s Spreads, available at Candylicious Dubai Mall and Yas Mall, offer a sweet, creamy hazelnut and chocolate flavour that can be paired with various types of foods.

Cocosia

Cocosia presents three new products. Yuzu is Japanese citrus fruit infused in a Grand Cru couverture, inspired by Cocosia’s chocolatier in chief’s visit to Japanese pâtisserie Sadaharo Aoki in Paris. Desert Safari was created to reflect the region, and is a blend of camel milk caramel and and milk chocolate. Thai Lemongrass has pronounced Thai flavours in chocolate ganache, inspired by Cocosia’s chocolatier in chief’s visits to Thai markets.

Monin

Monin’s Milk Chocolate Sauce is ideal for mochas, lattes, cappuccinos, milkshakes, and dessert toppings, to name a few applications.

Operations

Our experts discuss working with chocolate, consumer demand and market considerations

The preferred sweet treat

Made from cocoa beans, chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavours in the world, liked across all age groups. Often eating during celebrations and given as a gift, chocolate is popular in many cultures, and enjoyed across the GCC region; KPMG studies indicate that chocolate and confectionary demand in the GCC region last year grew by 20%.

Aramtec sales & marketing manager — pastry division Riyadh Hassan confirms: “The Arab region and the Gulf in particular is known for its passion for milk chocolate, which is the most popular chocolate in the Middle east.”

La Marquise International marketing manager Olga Mirtova concirs: “The Middle East and Gulf region in particular is well known for its passion for sweets, as the value of this sector reached $10 billion last year, with growth of 12% annually, making it the highest growth in the world,”

According to La Marquise International’s experience, milk chocolate leads demand among its customers, followed by white chocolate and dark chocolate with 52% cocoa. “Dark chocolate with higher percentage of cocoa is a bit less popular,” Mirtova states.

This is perhaps not surprising, given that the higher the cocoa percentage, the less sweet the taste — and Middle East consumers are known for their sweet tooth, says Felchlin export marketing manager Monika Schuler. She adds that “chocolate has always been a part of desserts as well as a way of lifestyle” in the region.

Monon MEIA trade marketing manager Pierre Fraboulet also notes the enduring popularity of chocolate in its various forms in the region.

Speaking about its various applications as a highly versatile ingredient, he tells Caterer Middle East: “Leaving pastry aside, chocolate is used in hot and iced chocolates and mochas as well as in milkshakes. You can do many things with chocolate as it blends well with a large range of other ingredients from fruits and nuts to savoury.”

Al Abbar Enterprises head of confectionary retail (Candylicious, Hershey’s Chocolate World, Spun Candy, Garrett Popcorn Shops, Magic Candy Factory) Rosantina Saraswati reveals that, in her experience, chocolate is more popular in the region than other types of confectionery, such as sugar candies, gum and snacks.

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