Shoppers are most likely to trade-up on chocolate when it comes to buying indulgent groceries, a new survey from Canadean Consumer finds.

Specifically, the study found that 38 percent of buyers say they buy premium chocolate either “regularly” or “all the time.” 

In comparison, 35 percent say the same about coffee, 33 percent about alcoholic beverages and 32 percent about ice cream.

The data shows that even as consumers continue to juggle daily finances and manage household budgets, they’re willing to regularly trade-up on indulgent groceries – especially chocolate.

“To encourage trading-up behavior, manufacturers need to push the concept of ethical luxury in categories such as chocolate and coffee to make consumers feel that they are getting a real treat over everyday items,” suggests Michael Hughes, research manager at Canadean.

According to the survey, shoppers determine a product’s premium value as a result of its ingredients rather than the price.

Specifically, 58 percent of consumers regard a product as superior to an “everyday” item if it promotes the use of the finest ingredients. That slice of the pie is significantly larger than those who validate a product’s premium value based on “if it’s expensive” –— 38 percent. When it comes to packaging, consumers are most likely to consider a product as premium if it has “stand out appeal” (44 percent) and comes in environmentally friendly packaging (37 percent).

The survey also finds that consumers tend to associate Fairtrade and organic ingredients with traits such as purer formulation and artisanal production.

Canadean Consumer is the consumer and shopper insight division of Canadean Ltd. Canadean provides market research, reports, databases and custom solutions to the global FMCG, retail, packaging and ingredients industries. This Canadean Consumer survey is based on answers from 2,000 United Kingdom-based adults. The survey was conducted in March 2014.