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How are people Hot Chocolate-ing?
Hot chocolate is enjoyed all over the world, but every country drinks it differently! The UK hot chocolate market alone is worth a staggering £132m.
A recent study shows that the majority of people, around 62%, prefer their hot chocolate traditional. But what makes it traditional? To us at Simply, traditional means made with milk, cocoa powder and then topped with cream and mini marshmallows. But the opportunities are endless – you can add syrups, exotic toppings, spices- like in Mexico where they add chilli for an extra kick!
There are so many delicious combos with hot chocolate- both seasonal and year-round! Whether that’s pairing a traditional hot chocolate with your favourite café snack or levelling it up with a flavoured syrup like hazelnut or gingerbread.
From our research, the most commonly sold hot chocolate flavours are, not surprisingly, milk chocolate but also white chocolate with the UKs leading cafés stocking only those flavours year-round.
Here are some other hot chocolate flavours and trends we predict will continue to grow:
Pink Hot Chocolate
This flavour is made from the luxurious combination of white chocolate and raspberry and is naturally pink. Due to its bright and vibrant colour, this hot chocolate is a SUPER Instagrammable drink (especially when topped with whipped cream and marshmallows!). Although a great all year round beverage, it is especially popular around valentines day when LOVE is in the air!
Gold Hot Chocolate
Gold Chocolate is everywhere! Cadbury’s Caramilk went on to generate a huge £8.5m in its first 12 weeks in the UK in 2021 after being a massive hit in Australia. The flavour combination is made up of mouth watering white chocolate and caramel and is sometimes referred to as blonde chocolate due to it’s signature colour.
Luxurious Thick Hot Chocolate
The French extra thick hot chocolate (Le chocolat chaud) went viral on TikTok recently with over 34.1m views of #frenchhotchocolate. It’s typically made with 70% cacao or more and the thicker texture is ideal for dipping your croissant!
Freakshakes
A freakshake is the ultimate social media picture perfect beverage. Originally from Australia, it has over 2.4m views on TikTok and 215k hashtags on Instagram. You can add anything to your freakshake including a brownies, popcorn or even a whole slice of cake!
The UK’s leading cafes release new flavours of hot chocolate especially around the Autumn/Winter period. Costa even did an exclusive range in 2021 and 2022 with Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Toblerone and After Eight. Below is a table of the most recurring flavours from the 3 leading coffee shops in the UK from 2019.
- Recipe: Gold Hot Chocolate
- Recipe: Pink Hot Chocolate
Discover the Simply Hot Chocolate Range