Equipment sales and confectionery product sales continue to rise
According to a new report from the MarketsandMarkets’ research group, global demand for confectionery machinery is set to rise significantly over the next five years.
The study lends optimism for the sector, with forecast that sales of processing equipment would rise to $6.55 billion by 2023, from a figure of $4.69 billion last year, at a rate of 6.9% annual growth.
Such forecasts will doubtless prove welcome news for the industry if they do in fact come to fruition, especially given the pressure felt by some sections of the market in recent years.
This is especially given the reports of a slowdown in growth for sales of chocolate products in the US in particular. This has seen moves such as Nestle agreeing to sell its American confectionery interests to Ferrero earlier this year for a reported figure of $2.8 billion.
Though changing consumer habits have seemingly driven a global focus on offering a greater range of products that have been perceived as being healthier, it appears there remains strong enthusiasm for many traditional brands of confectionery.
This is supported through latest figures from Statistica, which show that international sales of confectionery have grown globally from just under 7 million tonnes a year in 2012, to a projected figure of 7.69 million tonnes by next year.
With the development of ranges such as Nestle’s new Wowsome bars (cutting sugar by 30%), and KitKat’s 10% sugar reduction, there are signs that a combination of newly reformulated bars and classic confectionery products may well represent the shape of the market over the course of the next few years.
While it will indeed prove tough for manufacturers to meet government targets (20% cuts within the UK) for reduction in sugar levels in our diets, it appears that progress is slowly being made.
Clearly, this is considered by many to be the key overriding issue of our age in terms of reducing sugar, salt and fat levels from a host of product ranges – which remains an especially challenging task for the confectionery sector in particular.
Get in touch with your show news or general features at [email protected] or via social media at @confectionprod
