Jonathan Thomas, principal market analyst for Leatherhead Food Research, told ConfectioneryNews this could be down to the “longstanding heritage many of the leading brands have within the country”.
“Many of them date back to the first half of the previous century, and therefore command high levels of brand awareness and loyalty.”
Value sales of confectionery in Norway were NOK7.55bn ($1.19bn) in 2013, up almost 15% from 2009, according to a recent Leatherhead report. Thomas said domestic firms like Orkla took a strong stake, with its confectionery and snacks business unit amounting to NOK4.78bn ($0.74bn) of its operating revenues in 2013, up from NOK4.63bn ($0.72bn) in 2009.
Chocolate, in particular molded bars and blocks, was the most popular confectionery segment overall. Thomas said Milka (US), Freia (Norway) and Cloetta (Finland-Sweden) were “well to the fore” with this format.
Home and away
Domestic brands have made increasing moves towards European expansion, particularly towards Baltic countries; something Thomas said aimed to “take advantage of higher growth rates further east”.
Most recently, in August this year, Orkla bought Latvian NP Foods Group – which saw chocolate brand Laima bought into the fold.
Thomas said Norway’s leading confectionery brands included the country’s second largest chocolate brand Stratos owned by Nidar/Orkla Group, throat lozenge brand Doc and bagged fruit gums and jellies maker Laban.
“Within the chocolate market, recent new product activity has included the extension of the Stratos range with a number of new formats – examples include mini bars, bagged chocolates
and white chocolate varieties. Meanwhile, the Nidar brand accounts for 20% of the Norwegian sugar confectionery market, whilst Caramello is present within the chocolate countlines sector.”
Finnish-Swedish firm Cloetta also occupied a strong position in the market, again most likely due to its longstanding regional brand reputation, Thomas said.
However, confectionery giant Mondelēz was still “strong” in Scandinavia, he said.
“Prior to the Cadbury takeover, Kraft enjoyed a strong presence in markets such as Norway, courtesy of brands such as Marabou and Daim. I expect this to continue, especially since the company appears to be growing the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand in the country.”