2022 State of the Industry Category Breakdowns:

Throughout July 2022, Candy Industry will be taking a deep dive into various confectionery categories. The articles include:

In the hard candy sector, health claims, flavor innovations, and nostalgia helped drive growth, while price per unit increases contributed to higher dollar sales.

Hard candy sales were up 19.8%, seemingly marking strong post-pandemic growth, according to IRI data for the year ending May 15, 2022.

However, part of the dollar sales growth was likely due to the increase in the average price per unit, which was $1.81, up 19 cents compared to the previous year, according to IRI.

In the gum category, manufacturers looked to innovation and strong marketing efforts to boost sales. Nonetheless, the category didn't quite reached pre-pandemic levels. In the 52 weeks ending June 14, 2022, gum sales totaled $2.88 billion. In 2019, gum sales had surpassed $3 billion.

In the truffles and filled chocolates sector, dollar sales of gift box chocolates were up about 8%, but price per unit increases played a role for some brands.

And finally, gummy and jelly brands continued to dominate the non-chocolate chewy candy market, with the category seeing double-digit growth over the last year. The segment pulled in $4.83 billion in the year ending May 15, according to IRI, up 13.7% from a year ago.

Read all of the State of the Candy Industry articles, past and present, here.