Wholesale Sweets and Chocolates

Ever wonder why the United States is leading the confectionery industry?

One BIG reason behind this is Americans’ love for sweets and chocolates, which made the industry resilient even during the pandemic.

In fact, on average, Americans will spend $574.6 on confectionery and consume 55.8kg to satisfy their addiction to sweets this year.

That is why the confectionery industry is growing at a 2.68% CAGR.

This growth also impacts the profitability of retail and wholesale businesses, making it as high as 10% to 20%.

Profitability varies, though, and one of the most important variables influencing business growth is the "product portfolio."

Thus, retail and wholesale businesses—offering diverse products, including low-sugar, vegan, and functional sweets—stand at the forefront of reaping maximum profits.

With this in mind, you should enhance your catalog and capitalize on trending products selling like hotcakes.

Let’s explore trending sweets and chocolates!

Top Trends: Upgrading Catalog

Popular Confectionery Products Among Americans

According to Statista, the most popular chocolate and candy products in the United States are:

• Snickers
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
• Hershey’s Kisses, Milk Chocolate, and Almonds
• KitKat
• Peanut M&Ms
• Almond Joy
• 3 Musketeers
• Butterfinger
• Twix

Leverage the loyalty associated with these popular brands to tap into an established customer base.

Other Trending Products

The world of sweets and chocolates is experiencing changing consumer preferences. Today, customers value transparency and conscious consumption.

Under these influences, the products gaining more acceptance from the audiences are:

• Vegan or plant-based products
• Low-sugar chocolates and candies
• Nutty sweets and chocolates
• Clean label products
• Functional products (that contain vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals)

As a retail business, source products responsibly to maximize your profits and sales volume. To do that, capitalize on the above trends, considering the peak seasons.

Occasions and Seasons: Best Time to Stock Up

Seasons and occasions significantly impact sweets and chocolate sales.

According to Google Trends, sweets and chocolate sales in the United States increase yearly from December to February.

The NCA report also supports it, which shows that more than 64% of candies and chocolates are sold on Easter, Valentine’s Day, winter holidays, and Christmas.

Thus, retailers and wholesalers should have enough stock during these months to cater to heightened market demand so that they can maximize their sales.

However, before sourcing products, you must assess their quality. The following factors may help you with sourcing sweets.

Crucial Factors: Distinguishing Quality Chocolates

Assess the sweets by checking the following:

Ingredients – Ensure that the ingredients used in making sweets and chocolates, such as essential oils, nuts, syrups, cocoa butter, and spices, are high quality.

Nutritional Value – Products must contain necessary nutrients. Check the nutritional value of products, considering their vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, energy, and total sugar values.

Appearance – Sweets and chocolates' appearance should be tempting. Assess the aroma, taste, color, consistency, and shape of products.

Taste – The taste of sweets should be pleasurable. Also, pay closer attention to yeast, molds, fat blooms, and sugar blooms (if any), spoiling the taste.

Color Coatings – Colors used in candy coatings should be safe and healthy. Usually, these colors contain sugar, coloring agents, corn syrup, and a food-grade wax.

Packaging – Quality packaging keeps chocolates and candies fresh. So, the packaging should seal products effectively and offer heat insulation to ensure quality during storage.

FDA Regulations: Choosing Compliant Products

FDA regulates the safety of ingredients and packaging materials used in food products.

So, businesses must adhere to the FDA rules on confectionary decorations, non-nutritive ingredients, and packaging.

Additionally, be mindful of the FDA’s restrictions on lead-based wrapper ink, allowing only 0.1 ppm achievable levels.

Also, retail or wholesale businesses must check the packaging and labeling for complete information before buying products.

Lastly, knowing your audiences and targeting them effectively can broaden your customer base and increase your sales volume. How?

Let’s answer this question!

Industry Demographics: Understanding Target Audience & Choosing Effective Marketing Strategy

The confectionery industry serves a broad customer base, ranging from kids to old adults. According to a Statista report, the following age groups consume the most confectionery:

• 35 - 44 (23%)
• 25 - 34 (22.5%)

These insights show that your primary target audience’s age ranges from 25 to 44 years. That means retailers and wholesalers should tailor their marketing strategies to target this demographic effectively.

To do that, a “Multichannel Marketing Strategy” can be effective. How?

There are two distribution channels for selling sweets and chocolates: online and offline. Online distribution channels will outperform during 2023 and generate five percent more revenue than offline ones.

This trend is expected to continue by 2025. An increased focus on multiple online channels in marketing strategy allows businesses to target broad audiences.