Market researchers report that between 82% and 92% of Americans admit to indulging in chocolate candy. Even more important is the revelation that the majority of them do it at least once a month. By Marilyn Odesser-Torpey, Associate Editor. Americans aren’t eating out as much as they used to, but they are eating more chocolate,…
Chocolate Sales Boost Confections
Despite the weak economy, consumers continue to indulge in candy. By Joe Bush, Contributing Editor. The confectionery retail market has grown across all trade channels, but convenience stores have outpaced the overall retail market. Iconic brands (Hershey, Nestlé, Mars) prowl the chocolate landscape and provide consumers an affordable indulgence in a bitter economy. According to…
Hershey To Acquire Brookside Foods
“The acquisition of Brookside is an opportunity for Hershey to expand our portfolio in this category,” says Hershey’s CEO. The Hershey Co. has reached an agreement to purchase Brookside Foods Ltd., a privately held confectionery company based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Brookside is a chocolate confectionery company with products based on a unique formula…
Certified Sustainable Chocolate
Mars Chocolate North America’s iconic DOVE Brand Chocolate is set to be the first mainstream chocolate brand in the U.S. to bear the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal on its dark chocolate products. Beginning in the fall, DOVE Brand Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate will source 100% of its cocoa volume from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, and…
Confidence in Confections
TOP PERFORMERS Wrigley Cadbury Adams Hershey’s HONORABLE MENTIONS Farley & Sathers Just Born Perfetti Van Melle According to the 2009 NACS State of the Industry report (SOI), the confections category in a typical convenience store contributes $44,820 to sales and $21,336 in gross margin dollars, for an average gross margin of 47.6%. Top performers in…
Chocolate Sweetens Candy Sales
TOP PERFORMERS Hershey’s Mars HONORABLE MENTIONS Nestlé Ghirardelli While the current recession has slowed down sales of everything from cars to organic groceries, people seem happy to keep shelling out for chocolate, and convenience store owners couldn’t happier. Chocolate is one of the more recession-resilient food sectors. With consumers eating out less and eating at…
A Functional Boost to Confections
You know the truism about Americans wanting more of everything is, indeed, true when we begin demanding more from our candy, gum and mint products than just good taste. As with beverages over the last decade or so, so-called functional snacks are slowly gaining respect in the convenience store channel, as major manufacturers roll products…
Sweet Opportunity
By Bob Gatty, Contributing Editor If manufacturers, distributors and convenience store retailers would embrace some basic changes and work more closely together, they could realize a potential bonanza of hundreds of millions of dollars in new profit, according to a new joint industry study. That is the message of the soon-to-be released “Convenience, Candy &…