Take advantage of the assets of Belgian chocolate

Did you know that the chocolate making sector will primarily grow via exports? This is mainly due to a strong increase in demand in emerging countries. Which is a good thing, because Belgium has a number of assets to meet this challenge. You will see why.

According to a 2014 study¹, Belgium is the world’s leading chocolate exporter. Although our country has faced increased international competition since that time (notably from the Netherlands), Belgian chocolate exports benefit from several specific and promising characteristics:

• Thanks to the high quality of Belgian chocolate, commercial relations between exporters and local partners are more durable than those of other goods.
• The variety of products exported (exports of different types of chocolate) and regional diversity (to different countries) increase export duration.
• The greater the export volume, the more export duration increases also.

(1)Abraham, F. Studnicka, Z. & Van Hove, J. (2014). Evidence and determinants of the duration of Belgian chocolate exports. [online]. KU Leuven - Center for Economic Studies (CES) & Vlerick Business School. Available at: https://www.vlerick.com/~/media/Corporate/Images/Eenmalige-images/2%20Research%20and%20faculty/2-4%20Knowledge%20items/2015/Abraham-Studnicka-VanHove2014_ChocolateDuration%20pdf.pdf 

Brussels exports

While the share of Brussels exports is higher than that of Wallonia, Flanders continues to monopolise chocolate exports. Brussels’ share has been growing since 20142.

The latest data from the National Bank of Belgium shows a slight decline in exports in 2017 (-3%) and a significant drop in 2018 (-26%). The trend has not, however, been confirmed at the national level where exports have been relatively stable since 2015.

Nearly all of Brussels chocolate exports have gone to Europe for many years (between 95% and 97%). However, in 2016, Asia (29%) and the United States (13%) were significant destinations for our chocolate exports. This trend could be repeated in 2019 and 20202.

The customers in the region are clearly the country's closest neighbours, led by the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. In 20182, these five countries accounted for 90% of Brussels exports of chocolate products.

With respect to 2016, which was an excellent year for Brussels exports, Asia imported a quarter of the total, led by Japan (€20.1 million), ahead of Hong Kong (€7.9 million), China (€3.8 million), the United Arab Emirates (€3.4 million) and Saudi Arabia (€1.3 million). Although the amounts were less spectacular in 2017 and 2018, these customers continued to be significant, while others provided new markets, such as Qatar, Kuwait and South Korea.

⁽²⁾ Data provided by the National Bank of Belgium (in euros)