Dados do Trabalho

Título

LABEL INFORMATION AS PRICE INDICATORS OF BEAN-TO-BAR CHOCOLATES: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN THE BRAZILIAN MARKET

Introdução

The "bean to bar" chocolate market is characterized by a manufacturing process in which chocolatiers produce chocolates directly from the bean to the bar. This exploratory study aimed to investigate if there is a relationship between product information available on labels and the pricing of bean-to-bar chocolates in the Brazilian market. It focused on the number of additional ingredients (AI) besides cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar, as well as the percentage of cocoa solids.

Material e Métodos

The data was collected from online sources and analyzed using R (tidyverse package). The study was limited to publicly available label information, excluding potentially important factors such as cocoa origin, specific production methods, and brand reputation.

Resultados e Discussão

It was found that out of 838 chocolates, 21% contain no additional ingredients, while 79% had at least one. A simple linear regression model revealed a weak negative relationship between the number of AIs and price (R² = 0.004509). Analysis of cocoa solids percentage showed a positive correlation with price (adjusted R² = 0.1205). A multiple linear regression model incorporating both factors explained approximately 16% of price variation (adjusted R² = 0.1627).

Conclusão

These results suggest that label information, particularly cocoa content, has some influence on bean-to-bar chocolate pricing in Brazil. The positive correlation between higher cocoa solids and price reflect perceived quality or production costs associated with higher cocoa percentages. However, the R² values also indicate that a significant portion of price variation is determined by factors not captured in this analysis. Future research could benefit from direct collaboration with bean-to-bar chocolate companies to access more detailed information, potentially through surveys or interviews. These findings provide an initial framework for understanding how product label information relates to pricing in the Brazilian bean-to-bar chocolate market. They highlight the complexity of pricing in this niche market and suggest that consumers and market analysts should consider a wide range of factors beyond label information when evaluating these products.