2023 Candy Market Trends

Release time:

2023-04-27 10:02

With the upgrading of consumption, traditional food is increasingly carrying health attributes, and candy is also starting to upgrade towards a healthier direction. At present, the entire candy industry is attempting to find new breakthroughs in creativity such as functionality, vegetarian nutrition, and sugar reduction, which has also become a key part of the innovation trend in the candy industry.
Functional sugar
In the candy category, functionality is a very promising development direction. Although the market share of functional candies is currently small, their health benefits are still a significant growth point that cannot be ignored.
According to data from the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the sales of functional candies in the domestic market have shown significant growth, and it is expected that the functional sugar market will exceed 8.6 billion yuan by 2022. According to NBJ data, the global sales of functional candies doubled in just four years (2014-2018).
Among functional candies, soft candy is particularly popular. According to Tmall's consumption data, in 2020, functional gummies became the fastest growing form of health product consumption among young groups such as the post-90s and Z-generation. At present, there are products on the market that supplement vitamins and minerals, such as DHA gummies, yeast zinc gummies, probiotic gummies, melatonin gummies, and collagen gummies.
The launch of functional candies is an extension of traditional candy brands to high-end product categories, and it is a high-level and multi-level demand from consumers for candy products.
sugarless candy
With the increasing demand for people's health, the trend of "low sugar, sugar free" has emerged, and consumers have also put forward demands for candy products - not only to be nutritious and healthy, but also to have less sugar.
Against the backdrop of the global trend of reducing sugar, the daily demand for traditional candies is gradually decreasing. According to the Report on Deep Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions for the Candy Industry from 2019 to 2023, China's candy production in 2017 was 3.31 million tons, a decrease of 6.0% from 3.52 million tons in 2016; In 2018, China's candy production decreased to 2.88 million tons, with a year-on-year decrease of 13.0%, further increasing the decline.
For this reason, many enterprises have launched sugar free lollipop, such as Dr. Xu Fuji, Dr. Xiong, sugar free lollipop, three squirrel deer blue blue sugar free lollipop, sugar cube sugar free lollipop, etc. The development of sugar free candies is worth looking forward to.
Vegetarian candy
The plant-based proposition is another important consumption trend in the candy market. Data shows that from 2016 to 2020, the compound annual growth rate of candy products claiming to be vegetarian was 17%, while the compound annual growth rate of candy products claiming to be plant-based more than doubled last year.
Candy manufacturers are removing raw materials such as dairy products, gelatin, and carmine to meet the growing demand for plant-based products, which are not only considered healthier but also more ethical and sustainable. For example, Yummy Bear, a Canadian candy brand, launched a low sugar vegetarian soft candy that uses plant ingredients instead of gelatin.
In recent years, with the diversification of consumer health demands, a group of candy manufacturers have prioritized the development of new products that meet consumer needs, injecting new vitality into the candy market with a continuous stream of innovative products. Taking the 'health' train, the candy industry is slowly moving forward.