Britain's love of chocolate shows no sign of abating, as the Grocer reported on our recent poll, if shoppers were allowed just one treat, a third would choose chocolate. Together with the Grocer we investigated consumer's views towards Confectionery - covering the good, the bad and the ugly, and we wanted to share this research with you. Harris Interactive interviewed 2,081 members of the British Public aged 16+ through our online Omnibus service, to probe consumer attitudes towards confectionery in general, looking at a range of issues including health, pricing, product size, and displays amongst others.

1. Confectionery:
The good, the bad & the ugly
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2. Men were significantly more likely than women to say that keeping prices down should be a priority
(35% vs. 25%)
8%
6%
9%
11%
30%
37%
None of these
Improving working conditions
Reducing enviromental impact
Launching exciting new products
Keeping prices down
Making existing products more healthy
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Women lead the way in thinking that reformulating confectionery to be healthier should be a priority
(40% vs. 33% for men). Older consumers also believe this should be a key priority
Q1. Which one of the following should be the main priority for confectionery manufacturers?
Base: All respondents: 2,081
Consumers want manufacturers to make existing confectionery products healthier

3. Reformulate current products to address growing obesity levels
20%
4%
4%
9%
64%
Do nothing
Put their prices up
Add vitamins and minerals
Reduce portion sizes
Reformulate products to reduce
sugar, fat, salt etc
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When asked about what confectionery manufacturers should do to address concerns about obesity, a
resounding 64% of consumers said products should be reformulated by reducing salt, fat & sugar levels
Q2. Which one of the following should confectionery manufacturers do to address concerns about growing obesity?
Base: All respondents: 2,081

4. Inflation: Make Products Smaller & Keep Prices the Same
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Inflation: What should manufacturers do about increasing prices of commodities?
Almost 60% of consumers say that manufacturers should reduce the size of products and keep the prices
the same – this is supported most by those aged 65yrs+ and people in Scotland
Q3: Rampant inflation has caused the price of key commodities such as sugar, cocoa, butter, oil etc. Which of the below should manufacturers do about
this?
57%
43%
Reduce size & keep
prices same
Keep size the same and
raise price
Keep size the same and raise
price (48%)
Reduce size & keep prices
same (52%)
Keep size the same and raise
price (39%)
Reduce size & keep prices
same (61%)
Men are more likely than women to
want to keep the product size the
same and pay a higher price
Women are more in favour of smaller
portion sizes and no price increase
Total

5. ‘Sharing bags’..... aren’t always being shared!
46%
12%
13%
13%
15%
Do not buy sharing bags
Eat myself in one sitting
Eat myself over several days
Share them with others in one sitting
Share them with others over several
days
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12% of people admit to eating a sharing bag of confectionery to themselves in one sitting
16-24 year olds are most likely to do this – a staggering 27% admit to doing this !!
Q4. Do you ever buy so-called ‘sharing bags’ of confectionery, and if so how do you consume them?
Base: All respondents: 2,081

6. Almost 70% say that retailers should not display confectionery at the checkout tills
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69%
31%
Majority of consumers say that retailers shouldn't be displaying confectionery items at the checkout tills-
this is particularly evident with older consumers
Yes
No
Q5. Do you think retailers should display confectionery at the checkout tills ?
Base: All respondents: 2,081
Of the 1 in 3 consumers that think retailers should display confectionery at the checkout tills; they are most likely to
be aged between 16-24 where 54% think confectionery at tills is OK

7. Which one food would consumers give up to improve their health?
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19%17%
17%
11%
11%
11%
9%
5%
There was a relatively broad spread of food types consumers would give up to improve their health –
Cakes & biscuits were the most likely to be axed followed by Crisps and Sweets
Chocolate
Chips
Other
Crisps Cakes / biscuits
Sweets
Cheese
Ice cream
Q6. If you had to give up ONE food to improve your health, what would it be ?
Base: All respondents: 2,081

8. What would be your ONE treat?
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33%
18%
13%
13%
10%
8%
4%
2%
1 in 3 consumers would choose chocolate as their ‘one treat’,
this is significantly evident amongst women compared to men (37% vs. 29%)
Chocolate
Chips
Other
Crisps
Cakes / biscuits
Sweets
Cheese
Ice cream
Q7. If you were allowed ONE of the following treats, which would you choices?
Base: All respondents: 2,081

9. Appendix –
Approach & Demographics
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10. • We conducted an online omnibus survey with 2,081 adults aged 16+ across England, Scotland,
and Wales between 28th May-2nd June 2014
• The survey took place using the Harris Interactive online panel,
.....the Harris Poll.
• The Harris Poll Global Omnibus consists of members of the
general public who have opted in and voluntarily agreed to participate
in online research studies. Through careful recruitment and management, we are able to rapidly
survey large numbers of the general population and accurately represent the views of the
nation.
• We have over 100,000 active panellists in the UK and our panel is used solely for market and
opinion research. Members are contacted at random and invited to take part in a survey.
Approach and Panel
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11. Omnibus Audience – a representative sample
12%
9%
4%
8%
9%
17%
9%
5%
14%
12%
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• The results of the study were weighted to best reflect the size and shape of the population of
the UK
• This means that the results in this report reflect an audience that is as true as possible of the
population with the same age, gender and regional profile. The audience profile is detailed
below.
• Of course not everyone in GB has internet access, but online
panel research results are considered to be extremely accurate.
In fact, according to the British Polling Council, Harris
Interactive was the most accurate online polling company
during the last UK elections in 2010:
http://www.britishpollingcouncil.org/press100508.html
N/A
Gender Age
Region
49% 51%
12%
17%
19%
17%
36%
16 - 24
25 - 34
35 - 44
45 - 54
55+

12. Lucia Juliano | Head of Consumer & Retail Research | LJuliano@harrisinteractive.com
079 89 39 22 51 | 0161 242 1365 | 0161 242 1360
For Further Information please contact :
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