The global chocolate and confectionery machinery market will grow 7.1 percent over the next five years, reaching nearly $4 billion in 2021, says a new report about food processing equipment by The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based research firm.

What do pizza slices, CeeLo Green and futuristic fuel pumps have in common? They were all at Chicago’s McCormick Place last week for the NACS Show, sponsored each year by what was once known as the National Association of Convenience Stores. (Now the association goes by NACS, the Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing.)

The scary-good Halloween spending projections from the National Retail Federation are no trick, but they sure are a treat.

Gummy vitamins are continuing to gain traction, according to a new report from Albany, N.Y.-based research firm Transparency Market Research.

Want to know what’s coming around the corner? Take the time to digest these long-term shifts affecting consumers, retailers and manufacturers.

While looking at the calendar this morning, I got quite the shock. How is it already Aug. 30? This summer flew by. It seems like May’s Sweets & Snacks Expo and June’s National Candy Month were only yesterday.

Despite fierce competition and thin profit margins, grocery sales outperformed other channels for sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG), new market research shows.

The Indian and Chinese chocolate markets are among those expected to see the most growth over the next few years, research shows.

Sometimes things just fall right into your lap. Here I was, mulling what I was going to pen for today’s column, when I get this email. Nowadays, of course, emails dictate the direction of our minutes and hours more often than not.

The global confectionery ingredients market is expected to reach $109.48 billion by 2025, according to a report by Albany, N.Y.-based research firm Transparency Market Research.