Christmas season brings out the best in artisan and major brand confectionery
With the Christmas season now well and truly in full swing, it’s been encouraging to venture out to stores and see that both individual stores and major brands have made a considerable effort to present new confectionery lines.
This all comes despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic which continues to place strain on the logistics and overall operations of many businesses operating within the sector, so these remain uncertain times for many in the industry.
In speaking to Mintel recently, it appears that the recent trend for companies have to some degree maintained a pattern of focusing on core product areas in order to maximise revenues amid a financially challenging time. This is clearly an understandable situation, though as you’ll see from our latest edition of Confectionery Production out shortly, there are some very encouraging signs for the state of both the major retail, and artisan segments of the market.
Regarding high street retailing, there have been some notable independent product releases, including Sweetdreams limited edition gingerbread Choc Nibbles (pictured), which are just one of many unexpected treats landing on UK shelves this week.
As we have reported in the past week, within the artisan category has seen notable activity with judging continuing for the Academy of Chocolate’s 2021 awards continuing, which has attracted entries from around the world, showcasing some fantastic high grade premium products that are pushing the technical boundaries of what can be achieved in the market.
In the wider commercial stakes, the likes of Mars, Mondelez, Ferrero and Hershey have also been notably busy in refreshing their product ranges, which present a multi-million opportunity for a slice of the $150 billion chocolate market that is fully anticipated to increase despite broader market challenges within the food and drink sector.
Neill Barston, editor, Confectionery Production
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