Chocolate Candy: US Market Trends and Opportunities, 15th Edition

Report Overview

The Cocoa Crunch: Turning Climate Chaos into Chocolatey Opportunities

A favorite indulgence is under siege! Challenges including climate change, rising costs, and evolving consumer demands are reshaping the chocolate industry, which needs to take advantage of ripe opportunities for growth. How can confectioners innovate to survive and thrive? This report unveils the strategic pivots needed to navigate the chocolate crisis, from leveraging unexpected ingredients to capitalizing on the enduring power of holiday and seasonal sales.

Key trends covered in Chocolate Candy: US Market Trends and Opportunities, 15th Edition:

• The challenge of widespread semaglutide medication use
• Price hikes and climate change are challenging chocolate marketers and producers
• Product innovations to lower production costs
• Growing incorporation of fruits, nuts, and other fillings, as well as alternative, chocolate-like ingredients

Chocolate prices are soaring due to a confluence of factors. Cocoa bean costs are rising due to climate change, which is reducing yields amidst increasing global demand. Cocoa crops are particularly sensitive to environmental fluctuations, and increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are wreaking havoc on crops, further exacerbating a supply shortage. These climate-related challenges pose a long-term threat to the stability of cocoa production.

Furthermore, rising prices for other inputs like sugar, milk, and packaging, coupled with increased energy and labor costs, are leading manufacturers to pass on growing costs to consumers.

Growing consumer awareness of ethical and sustainable sourcing practices has also driven demand for higher-quality, sustainably produced chocolate. This translates to increased production costs for companies that prioritize fair trade, organic, shade-grown, and other sustainable certifications. This trend of premiumization adds to the price pressure.

In light of rising costs, chocolate candy makers still have many opportunities for growth. Innovations in chocolate can help increase or hold sales by making chocolate more affordable or desirable to consumers amidst rising cocoa prices:

• Incorporation of fruit, nuts, or fillings can capture flavor trends while also making chocolate candies with less chocolate content to have more control over pricing.
• Increasing promotion of white chocolate can make the product mix more cost-effective due to the use of cocoa butter instead of cocoa solids used to make dark chocolate and white chocolate.
• Using more parts of the cacao plant such as the fruit pulp and juice can be more cost-effective for chocolate production in the long run.
• Development of chocolate alternatives such as those that use non-chocolate ingredients to make similar confections or cacao synthesized in a lab could make chocolate more affordable and climate-friendly.

Sales of chocolate candies in the scope of this report are segmented by type:

• box/bag/bar
• gift box
• holiday/seasonal
• novelty
• snack size
• sugar free

Baking chips and baking chocolate are included in the box/bag/bar segment, holiday/seasonal segment, and sugar-free segment depending upon which category is most relevant.

With a focus on “what’s next” and current consumer trends, Chocolate Candy: US Market Trends and Opportunities is packed with insights about consumer trends, behavior, and motivations to help food and beverage producers, retailers, packaging firms, employers, and investors gauge consumer perspectives and find areas for growth in a competitive market.

Chocolate Candy: US Market Trends and Opportunities delivers actionable predictions and recommendations designed to guide producers, retailers, and investors in making business decisions by providing data and insights about chocolate users and buyers.

Report Scope

Chocolate Candy: US Market Trends and Opportunities is the go-to source for a complete understanding of the US chocolate market and the potential for a market for chocolate alternatives. This report combines Packaged Facts’ extensive monitoring of the food and beverage market with proprietary surveys and evaluates current trends and future directions for marketing and retailing, along with consumer patterns during the pandemic, during the inflation area, and across the broader food and beverage market.

This Packaged Facts report analyzes the dynamics of the current landscape of the chocolate market. Consumers who eat chocolate frequently and people who buy chocolate are examined. Trends including consumer snacking habits, online grocery shopping, food allergies, reasons for diet and lifestyle choices, home baking trends, and retail and marketing trends are also investigated.

Historical market size for the chocolate market is provided from 2019 through 2024. Forecasts for the chocolate retail market segmented by type are provided from 2025 through 2029.

This report also provides chocolate and snack food shipments in real and inflation-adjusted dollars from 2019 through 2024, 2025, and 2029.

Additionally, this report examines the potential for chocolate alternatives. The reasons for and implications of shifts in consumer perception and behavior are analyzed in the context of future market opportunities.

Major competitors in the chocolate market and development of ingredients and new products are examined. Retail and packaging trends – both in general and in the chocolate market – are also analyzed.

The report has dozens of tables showcasing numerical survey data on consumer demographics and psychographics and numerous marketing photographs. This report goes in-depth on historical trends that have affected the food and beverage market.

Report Methodology

The information contained in Chocolate Candy: US Market Trends and Opportunities was developed from primary and secondary research sources. Primary research includes interviews with food and beverage market experts; participation in and attendance at food industry events; and extensive internet canvassing.

Primary research also includes national online consumer polls of U.S. adult consumers (age 18+) conducted on an ongoing basis by Packaged Facts to analyze attitudes of consumers and their relevant food and beverage preferences. 

Survey data from MRI-Simmons are used to analyze the demographics and psychographics of consumers and usage trends for chocolate candies.

Supplementing Packaged Facts’ exclusive surveys is analysis from the International Food Information Council Foundation’s (IFIC) 2024 Food and Health Survey is used to provide useful information on consumer behavior. Additionally, IFIC’s 2024 Public Perceptions of Processed Foods Report is utilized to provide consumer insights on food processing. These reports provide valuable insight into consumers’ perspectives on food purchasing decisions and diet and lifestyle choices.

Chocolate Candy Report Details