Mondelēz volume growth and emerging markets: overview
- Mondelēz achieved 0.7% volume growth after several quarters of decline
- Biscuit innovation and wider distribution helped boost North American volumes
- Growth through pricing has moderated across FMCGs
- European revenue declined amid heatwaves and Easter timing effects
- Emerging markets delivered strong growth through localisation and distribution expansion
Mondelēz International’s recent Q2 results brought the snacking multinational several key successes.
Its volume and mix was up by 0.7% after several quarters of decline, and it saw significant revenue growth in emerging markets in particular.
How has the company achieved this?
Mondelēz returns to volume growth
Mondelēz has returned to growth in volume and mix. The last time it saw positive growth by this metric was in Q4 2024, a year and a half ago.
Part of the reason for this is the company’s success in North America, particularly in the biscuit category, according to Erin Lash, director for consumer equity research at investment research company Morningstar.
The company has invested in innovation not only in flavour profiles but pack sizes as well, aiming to tap into the convenience trend and appeal more to the ‘on-the-go’ consumer, she says.
The snacking giant has also expanded distribution of its products into other channels, helping volumes rise.
In its full-year results for 2025, Mondelēz predicted that volume growth would return due to falling cocoa prices. Prices fell significantly after this, yet began to tick back up in April.
Pricing-led growth begins to ease
With food prices around the world so high, Mondelēz has often seen growth of revenues through pricing rather than volume. This has helped the company keep revenues up despite volume declines.
Such growth through pricing was a by-product of global food inflation. However, the contribution of price to organic sales growth is moderating, says Lash, not just for Mondelēz but for FMCGs in general.
“Firms are being a lot more surgical in how they think about inflationary pricing or pricing in general.”
Therefore, they are looking for alternative tools through which to offset margin pressure from continued inflation.
Confectionery brings struggle in Europe
Mondelēz saw net revenue declines in Europe after a 9% year-on-year rise in the first quarter.
The heatwave in Europe was one of the main reasons for this, according to Mondelēz’s CEO Dirk Van de Put, with chocolate consumption being pushed down by the soaring temperatures.
In heatwaves, chocolate as a category often struggles due to its meltability and consequent difficulty to transport and display, explains Shivya Puri, senior research analyst at consumer analytics company Mordor Intelligence.
Nevertheless, other factors less related to performance make this comparison between Q1 and Q2 starker.
Easter fell earlier this year than last year, explains Morningstar’s Lash, meaning that the revenue it generated was included in 2026’s Q1 earnings, whereas last year, it was included in Q2. This, in part, accounts for the year-on-year decline in Europe.
The reason why North America is not as significantly affected by this, Lash explains, is that Mondelēz does not have a strong confectionery presence there. In fact, the licence for Cadbury products in the US is owned by Hershey.
Therefore, its sales here are mostly in the cookies and crackers category, which are not as relevant for Easter.
In emerging markets, Mondelēz goes local
In Q2, Mondelēz saw much greater revenue growth in emerging markets than in developed ones, with 8.2% year-on-year growth in Asia, Middle East and Africa, and 15.1% growth in Latin America.
This is part of a trend.
Many major FMCGs are flourishing in emerging markets due to developing middle classes, growing populations and less competition from private label, according to Filiberto Amati, advisor at FMCG consultancy Amati and Associates.
However, says Lash, part of this success is also down to Mondelēz’s strategy. The company has focused on local brands as well as global ones in emerging markets, balancing investments between “local jewels and global brands” to a much greater extent than before.
Furthermore, the company has expanded distribution in many emerging markets, therefore increasing opportunities for sales.
Whether such growth will continue remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Mondelēz’s strategy has, in part, paid off.
