Despite consumers becoming more health conscious, the confectionery market is growing and continues to provide one of the food industry’s highest turnovers. Historically, during a cost of living crisis, customers treat themselves in the sweets aisle for a ‘pick me up’ when spending less outside the supermarket.
The European market is one of the largest and most dynamic in the industry, with over 12,000 companies producing 14.7 million tones of confectionery each year. It manufactures half of the global annual cocoa crop as chocolate remains a customer favourite. The USA, however, is the largest confectionery producer, with an expected US$288.1 billion turnover for 2023.
In general, women eat more sweets, with an average of 34 percent consuming sweet (or savoury) snacks daily, compared to 23 percent of men. Since the pandemic, a quarter of the general population is consuming more confectionery than they did pre-covid.
Healthy confectionery is also growing in popularity, with demands seen for organic, raw, natural, sugar-free and on-the-go sweet snacks.
