Premium chocolate

This research work explores the premium chocolate industry, characterized mainly by small artisanal firms located in Italy and France. The main purposes of the research, and the corresponding research questions, are (1) verifying whether sales of premium chocolate increase in spite of the economic downturn, and (2) which marketing strategies allow premium chocolate companies to compete in this scenario. To answer the first research question, empirical analysis of sales data of selected companies is conducted. For the second question, case studies and qualitative surveys constitute the grounding to discover the emerging marketing trends. A comprehensive introduction to the chocolate market is indispensable to understand the industry, while literature surveys and academic frameworks concerning competitive strategies and value chains are provided to sustain the robustness of the research.