Chocolatiers are gearing up for the Eid Al Fitr celebrations, as they anticipate a rise in orders, especially from corporate clients.
The Lebanese company Patchi expects sales to increase between two and three tonnes of chocolate a day this week and during Eid.
“We witnessed an increase in corporate sales since the beginning of this year due to a rise in the market demand, acquiring new clients [such as in the hospitality segment], opening of new stores and an exclusive new range of flavours to cater to the local palate,” said a Patchi spokeswoman.
Since its factory in Dubai was damaged by a fire in 2013, Patchi has been operating from a temporary facility in Dubai Industrial City (DIC) with a workforce of 150 that has the capacity to produce 3,600 kilograms of chocolate a day.
Its new factory in DIC, which is expected to open by early 2017, will have a production capacity of 10,000kg a day. Patchi presently has 33 shops in the UAE.
Meanwhile, Godiva Chocolatier, an 89-year-old Belgian company, opened its seventh cafe and store in the UAE at Al Ain Mall last Thursday, as it was expecting a “big growth in sales”, said Manoj Loya, Godiva’s regional general manager for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.
“This period constitutes 15 to 20 per cent of our sales for the entire year in the UAE,” he said. “Corporate orders are not going down but they have not gone up so much, and we are seeing more orders from high net-worth individuals for gifting.”
Godiva began setting up shops in the UAE two years ago, and opened four in the past year. It expects to open its third outlet in Dubai by the end of the year, and up to four more across the UAE next year.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey are the three fastest-growing markets for Godiva worldwide.
“Tourism, robust economies and the way the [economic] momentum is being maintained here despite what is happening in the rest of the world are among the reasons for the growth here,” said Mr Loya.
Godiva produces all its chocolates in Belgium and there is no long-term plan to set up a production facility in the UAE.
Start-up chocolatiers are also upbeat about the Eid holidays. Nour Tarsha, the owner of Via Dolce, a luxury Belgian chocolate shop in Abu Dhabi, said he was expecting to sell 200kg of chocolates this Eid to retail customers.
He has secured 10 corporate orders for a total of about 400kg of the confectionery.
In the UAE, chocolate sales are expected to reach US$328.3 million this year, up from $289.7m last year, according to Euromonitor International.
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