Sales Stats and Outlook
A top-10 category poised for growth and
innovation through 2025, Chocolate & Other
Confectionery will see a CAGR of 4.8 percent with
sales going from $2.8 billion in 2021 to a projected
$3.4 billion in 2025, according to the Specialty Food
Association's State of the Specialty Food Industry
research, 2020-2021 edition.
While overall category growth was somewhat
sluggish in 2020, when consumers tended to
prioritize essentials, specialty items grew 9.4 times
faster than all products in the category, led by
non-chocolate confectionery (13.7 percent), and
followed by chocolate (11.7 percent). According to
SFA's report, innovation and trends will evolve
from products that are fair trade and vegan, fresh/
perishable, have floral-forward notes, are natural
low/no sugar, and are functional and nutritionally
enhanced with fruits/veggies.
Last year's unpredictability changed the way
consumers shopped and engaged with food. The
pandemic pushed online sales to record highs and
slowed some other channels' performances, like
convenience, drug, and specialty.
According to the National Confectioners
Association's 2021 State of the Treating report,
overall online confectionery sales skyrocketed (76
percent), and the annual online dollars per buyer
increased 14.3 percent. Grocery sales were up 10.5
percent for chocolate and 9.9 percent for non-
chocolate.
Changes in shopping behavior also evolved.
The NCA reports that six in 10 consumers either
purchased different package sizes of chocolate
and/or confectionery (41 percent bought more
value packs), or bought different brands and/or
items than they normally would. About one in
three shoppers (36 percent) sent or dropped off
confectionery gifts or gift baskets in lieu of visiting
during the pandemic.
"Locals were gifting and sending chocolate
assortments to each other during lockdown like
crazy," recalls Mike Grissmer, who, along with
his wife, owns Deborah Ann's Sweet Shoppe in
Bethel, Connecticut. "It was a way for friends and
neighbors to pick each other up while supporting
our local business," he adds.
W
hile 2020 redefined everything from
how consumers spend to where they
shop, it also left a lasting impression on
the kinds of foods and flavors they will continue to
consume. Whether adventurous combinations that
mingle the familiar with the exotic, or ingredients
that are mood boosting, comforting, or just do
more, shoppers have shifted towards conscious
indulgences to fit their lifestyle needs. Often these
foods made the ordinary, extraordinary, and during
the past 18 months, chocolate and candy were no
exception.
"The confectionery category has been
resilient, and chocolate and candy played a central
role in how we all made ordinary moments at
home feel a little more special," notes Lauren
Boland, director of communications for the
National Confectioners Association.
Cacao Barry's WholeFruit
Chocolate Evocao
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CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT
