With the upgrading of consumption, traditional food has more and more health attributes, and candy has also begun to upgrade in the direction of health. From the current point of view, the entire candy industry is trying to find new breakthroughs in ideas such as function, vegetarian nutrition, and sugar reduction, which has become the most critical part of the innovation trend of the candy industry.

Functional sugar

In the confectionery category, functionality is a promising development direction. Although the market share of functional confectionery in the market is small at present, its health effects are still a growth point of interest that cannot be ignored.

According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, functional confectionery is growing significantly in the domestic sales market, and the functional candy market is expected to exceed 8.6 billion yuan in 2022. According to NBJ data, it only took just four years (2014-2018) for global sales of functional confectionery to double.

Among functional candies, especially soft candy is quite popular. Tmall's consumption data shows that in 2020, functional soft candy became the fastest growing health care consumption dosage form among young groups such as post-90s and Generation Z. Currently, there are gummies for vitamin and mineral supplementation, DHA gummies, yeast zinc gummies, probiotic gummies, melatonin gummies, collagen gummies and other products on the market.

The introduction of functional candy is an extension of traditional candy brands to high-end product categories, and is a high-level, multi-level consumer demand for candy products.

Vegetarian Candy

Plant-based claims are another important consumer trend in the confectionery market. Data shows that confectionery products claiming to be vegan will grow at a CAGR of 17% from 2016 to 2020, while the CAGR of confectionery products claiming to be plant-based has more than doubled in the last year.

Candy manufacturers are removing ingredients such as dairy, gelatin and carmine to meet the growing demand for plant-based products, which are seen as not only healthier, but also more ethical and sustainable. Canadian candy brand Yumy Bear, for example, has marketed low-sugar vegan gummies that use plant-based ingredients rather than gelatin.

In recent years, along with the diversification of consumers' health demands, a number of confectionery manufacturers have made it a priority to develop new products that meet consumer needs, and a steady stream of innovative products has injected new energy into the confectionery market. Riding on the "health" train, the confectionery industry is slowly moving forward.