Buying chocolate minus the guilt

By Anupama Chandrasekaran

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Placing chocolates in the cosmetics aisle may seem a strange marketing strategy, but it is the ideal spot to reach guilt-ridden chocoholics, according to confectionery group Cadbury Schweppes Plc (CBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

London-based Cadbury Schweppes recently launched a 100-calorie chocolate bar branded Cadbury Thins in Canada. But research revealed that calorie-counting chocolate-lovers were uncomfortable walking down the confectionery aisle or picking up chocolate bars at the checkout counter in full view of fellow shoppers.

"There was a love-hate relationship with chocolate -- 'I love it but I hate it when I have a chocolate,'" said Jim Cali, president of commercial strategy for Cadbury Schweppes Americas confectionery, speaking at the Reuters Food Summit on Wednesday in Chicago.

"If you feel guilty about having a chocolate, you feel bad about reaching for the chocolate when 20 people are in line behind you. Research showed there were people who were taking a chocolate bar and taking a newspaper and throwing it over it," Cali said.

Because Cadbury Thins was a smaller product, the company could fit the bars in smaller display boxes the size of a gum display box, which could go at the end of the check-out counter, making it a discrete purchase.

The chocolate bar was also small enough to go on a cosmetic counter in a drugstore where there was a little bit of a private moment versus standing on the chocolate aisle, Cali said.

"She doesn't go down the chocolate aisle, but if she happens to pass one in the cosmetics section then that's great," Cali said. "That's what we are banking on to drive growth in the future."