In a time surrounded by uncertainty, food and beverage consumers find themselves shifting their spending to reflect the concern for the price of groceries. Despite tightened belts, consumers continue to leave a bit of room in those budgets for the occasional treat to enhance special moments, leading to confectionery sales topping $54 billion last year. Unit volume in sales may have decreased, but price increases boosted the year-over-year dollar gains for the market.
“Americans are still turning to chocolate and candy as a special way to elevate their celebrations, holidays and even ordinary days,” says John Downs, president and CEO of the National Confectioners Association (NCA). “The connection between our industry’s products and emotional well-being is undeniable, and we are meeting consumers where they want to be met with options for the moment, no matter the occasion.”
According to the State of Treating Report from the NCA with syndicated data provided by Circana and Euromonitor, 96% of shoppers can be persuaded to spend a little more on confectioneries. 51% will splurge simply if the treat is their favorite, 46% if it’s a brand they like, 42% for gifting, 40% for a special occasion and 39% for a holiday.
Holidays, including Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween and winter holidays, were the biggest selling seasons of 2024, encompassing 62.3% of dollar sales. A third of consumers also made changes to how they celebrated by finding sales or promotions and purchasing for fewer people. Organizations looking to leverage the holiday seasons should lean into special occasions both in-store and online, where smaller holidays can add up for profits.
Companies can leverage emotional triggers, such as self-care or special occasions, to convince buyers to splurge a little on chocolate and candy or tap into the idea of gifting and cross-merchandising with other gifting categories. 74% of consumers already gift with confectionery treats, 57% with chocolate and 17% with candy.
While consumers explored new brands and types of confectioneries less in 2024, social media was still a very powerful tool when it comes to promoting new products and innovations in the industry, especially toward younger audiences. 27% of consumers found a new brand or item though social media, such as Dubai chocolate, freeze-dried candy, Swedish candy and influencer owned brands. Additional usage occasions can be spurred using user-created and original social media content, creating inspiration for gifts, baked goods and crafts.
Consumers also are found to believe it’s fine to have the occasional treat, about two to three chocolates or candies a week, 87% understanding the role that treating plays in a happy and balanced lifestyle. Companies can emphasize holistic well-being and self-care while offering portion size variety and easy-to-find and understand information.
62% of consumers already believe that better-for-you confectioneries exist, such as dark chocolate, organic or products with reduced sugar or no artificial ingredients. 10% purchased better-for-you in 2024. Offering a variety of package size options and resealable packaging can draw interest from consumers as a part of a better-for-you strategy as well. By providing a balanced assortment of classic, innovative items and consumer-defined better-for-you options, sellers can optimize engagement and sales.
Buyers are also becoming more interested in transparency and sustainability from brands regarding ingredients, sourcing and sustainability commitments. Younger shoppers especially are interested in learning about the industry’s initiatives using brand labels and websites. Companies can prioritize this by sharing ingredient sourcing, sustainability practices and brand commitments online, on social media and relevant on-pack callouts.
To fund the treat budgets, many consumer trips shifted to value-forward channels, including club and dollar stores. Drug and convenience store sales declined while e-commerce had robust growth. Buyers were able to adjust for inflation and stretch their confectionery dollar with the use of differing package sizes and types of confectionaries.
Manufacturer brands also continued to dominate, but consumers were more likely to purchase private-brand chocolate. Companies can capitalize on brand loyalty from their buyers while also integrating various pack sizes and different brands to offer price point variety for value-seeking customers.
Previous themes of permissibility, affordability and favorability will persist as pillars of growth for the confectionery market over the next five years, reaching $70.4 billion in 2029. Chocolate can expect to remain king, but non-chocolate candy will have a growing share of sales, reaching $26.9 billion while chocolate may reach $38.2 billion. Buyers may have to continue to tighten their budgets, but they know they can always turn to a treat for a stress reliever.
