NCA State of the Industry Conference explores the future

The National Confectioners Association's State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC), held at the JW Marriott resort in Miami, FL, continued today with its first full day of sessions. Yesterday the show held an awards ceremony celebrating its Confectionery Leadership Awards, as well as retailer-hosted roundtables and a few other events, and today it kicked off its educational programming.

NCA President and CEO John Downs presented the organization's "State of the Industry: Sweet Success – 10 Years of Innovation & Inspiration" to start the morning, adopting a fun talk-show format. Unsurprisingly, talk of FDA's ban on red dye number 3 started off the discussion, as well as some discussion of the upcoming tariffs.

"Chocolate and candy are one of the least expensive things you can buy to treat yourself and your family. You might not be able to afford to dye real eggs this Easter, but we got you covered in the candy aisle," joked Downs. 

Downs also hosted a fireside chat with former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, who shared anecdotes from her time working for the president. 

Elise Fennig, chief of staff and SVP of operations, NCA, then presented the organization's State of Treating 2025 report. There was both good news and bad news for the industry—the good news is that NCA's 2025 outlook is cautiously optimistic, but in 2024 sales were mostly up due to inflation. In addition, consumers' health goals led to reduced confectionery consumption, with a rising focus on sugar levels.

Some key takeaways from the report:

• Confectionery sales reached $54.2 billion in 2024
  • The breakdown: $28.1 billion in chocolate sales, $21.7 billion in non-chocolate candy, and $4.4 billion in gum
• Last year, 98% of households purchased confectionery at least once, with consumers switching between retail channels, pack sizes, types, and brands to stretch their dollars
  • Value is key, but 96% of shoppers can be persuaded to spend a little more on confectionery, for various reasons (seeing their favorite treats and brands, gifting, and special occasions)
• Confectionery enjoys high permissibility, with 85% believing it's fine to treat
• 62% of consumers believe better-for-you confectionery exists (such as dark chocolate, organic items, and products with reduced sugar or no artificial ingredients)
  • However, only 10% of consumers frequently purchased what they consider to be BFY

Economist Ron Insana, who has been quoted on CNBC and in various financial publications, also presented his outlook on the industry, saying that although candy is recession-resistant, it is not necessarily inflation-resistant.

After lunch, attendees were encouraged to embark on a "choose your own adventure" of sort, with three panels being offered: "Cocoa Today, Cocoa Tomorrow"; "Own Your Journey: Harness Your Story & Career to Empower What’s Next"; and "Innovation Themes and Successes." At the innovation session, Sally Lyons Wyatt, global EVP and chief advisor, consumer goods and foodservice insights, Circana, talked about the impact of confections, and well as different consumer themes she has seen. 

Of note, Wyatt said that consumers will buy more of a limited-time product: "LTOs drive excitement and they drive traffic. It gets people going, 'Oh, I better buy more than one because if I come back and they're gone until next year...'" she trailed off. 

Wyatt also had a few key examples of innovation, including Hershey's Shaq-A-Licious gummies, which debuted in September last year. Because the gummies had a famous face behind them—and on them—it was no surprise that it did well, and it reached $20.1 million in sales in five months. This was partly due to Shaquille O'Neal (the famous face in question) promoting the treat on social media, she said. She also mentioned MrBeast's Feastables brand, which reformulated its chocolate products and grew sales by 33% in 2024.

For the last few sessions of the day, attendees were invited to learn about "AI and Innovation: Turbocharging Breakthroughs with AI," presented by AI futurist Steve Brown, as well as a panel on "Molly’s Game: The True Story of the Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World." The second panel was presented by entrepreneur, author, and speaker Molly Bloom, whose book was made into the 2017 movie Molly's Game, directed by Aaron Sorkin and starring Jessica Chastain as Bloom.

To round out the day, conference-goers were able to continue the conversation with Bloom in a second, smaller session, hosted by NCA's Women's Leadership Group.

SOTIC will continue March 4 with a full day of education, including the State of Retail, hosted by panelists from Albertsons, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods.

Related: Trends, takeaways from the NCA State of the Industry Conference