Sunday, May 31, 2015

Sugar-Coated Sticker Shock

How do you charge $10.99 for a chocolate bar? You put it in really lovely packaging. 

I was at the register of Martha's Vineyard today when gorgeous abstract illustrations behind the register caught my eye. The associate sent me to the chocolate aisle, where I was overcome by one work of art after another. 


I know, from my many trips to World Market, that I will buy things that come in pretty packages. I think the chocolate companies got that memo. 

Take for example Mast Brothers Chocolate, which looks like an array of wallpaper, that you can mix and match to create a case of 12 bars that show just the patterned spines

And chocolate isn't just chocolate anymore. Ever since the growing popularity of Vosges luxury chocolate (in it's pretty purple boxes) there's be an influx of hybrid flavors like blueberry lavender, vanilla rooibos and chile, such as the Raaka chocolate that caught my eye at Martha's. Raaka has even created a chocolate bar of the month club, so you can gift new flavors of chocolate all year round (2 bars per month) for only $280. 

And if you want to design the packaging to show off the flavor, take a look at Moonstruck's chocolate bark where intriguing flavors like raspberry fennel, strawberry basil, candied-orange hibiscus and prailine pecan ginger are visibly pressed into the chocolate— and of course seen through the packaging. 
Don't get me wrong, I love good chocolate and rich interesting flavors, and I fully appreciate beautiful design—but sometimes snacks come with a bit of sticker shock!

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