National Confectioners Association Offers a Glimpse of the Industry

More than 2,000 new products were unveiled at the recent All Candy Expo, held Sept. 17 to 19 in Chicago. According to the National Confectioners Association, top trends driving these introductions include: novel flavor combinations; traditional sweets and snacks with internationally inspired flavors; sophisticated sweets and snacks for consumers more refined palates; better-for-you sweets that are sugar-free, organic or nutritionally fortified; reinvented classics; dark chocolate; and interactive candy.

Further, according to Datamonitor, New York, 2,910 new confectionery products were introduced in 2006. The majority of these products were chocolate (1,478), followed by nonchocolate products (1,272) and gum (160). In the same year, 2,711 new snack, cookie and cracker products debuted. Cookies topped the list with 806 introductions, followed by chips (391) and snack bars (326).

Sales figures for the confectionery industry in 2006 ended 1.6% ahead of 2005, according to Information Resources, Inc., Chicago. Also in 2006, gum dominated the industry with 4.2% sales, and sugar-free gum saw an 11.4% growth in sales. Mints finished the year with a 21.6% increase in sales, while chocolate saw an 8.9% increase. Gummy candy, fruit chews and the like gained 3.3% in 2006.