The UK Sugar and Gum Confectionery Market Report identifies consumers’ attitudes related to eating sweets and using gum, the impact of upcoming HFSS restrictions and flavour innovation in the sugar confectionery market. This report covers the sugar and gum confectionery market size, market forecast, market segmentation and industry trends for the UK sugar confectionery market.
Sweets have forged a firm foothold in evenings in since many people turned to treats to elevate evenings in during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cost of living crisis is likely to maintain the sugar confectionery trend of enhancing at-home leisure occasions, making the image of sweets as an affordable treat for consumers.
The upcoming HFSS product location restrictions in October 2023 will impact the sugar confectionery market size and volume sales due to the reduced visibility of sweets in retail stores and supermarkets. Volume sales growth will further be dampened by a ban on TV and online advertising on HFSS prducts from January 2024. However, sweets should be fairly well protected from the rise of living cost given their affordability.
Improvements in flavour will shape future sugar confectionery innovation with increased consumer interest in having a wider range of sweet flavours available and a broader variety of sophisticated sweets targeted at adults.
The gum confectionery market will continue to benefit from consumer demand for sweet treats and gum being used for breath freshening and cleaning teeth.
However, growth in sales will be held back by consumers limiting their sugar intake from sweets and mostly opting for portion control over switching to sugar-free or reduced sugar variants.
Read on to discover more details or take a look at all of our UK Food Market Research.
Products: Soft confectionery, hard confectionery, standard mints, chewing gum, bubble gum, other confectionery (pick’n’mix, lollipops).
Brands: Haribo Dunhills (Haribo, Maoam), Mondelēz (Terebor, Maynards Bassetts, Sour Patch Kids), Nestlé (Rowntree’s), Swizzels (Swizzels Matlow), Mars (Skittles, Starburst), Ferrero (Tic Tac), Wrigley’s (Extra, Hubba Hubba) Perfetti van Melle (Fruit-tella, Mentos), Fox’s (Glacier Moments), Candy Kittens, Amandas, Cloetta (Chewits), Barratt (Wham Spaceballs), M&S, Sula, Lidl, Jealous Sweets, Sweetzone, The Naked, Nuud.
This report, written by Richard Caines, a leading analyst in the Food and Drink sector, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends and add expert context to the numbers.
Value sales of sweets and gum have shown a strong recovery in 2021/22, but volume growth remains hard to achieve. While consumers show strong interest in sugar reduction NPD, such products continue to play a limited role in the market, the technical hurdles in delivering a compelling experience a longstanding challenge. This leaves flavour innovation as the best way for brands to keep consumers interested and drive sales. In gum too, flavour innovation is an opportunity, but so also is added fortification to offer more functional benefits.”
Richard Caines
Senior Food & Drink Analyst
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