Consumers' Top 11 Candy Products
By Brett Dworski on Jun. 21, 2018CHICAGO -- Candy is king in the snacking world.
Fifty-six percent of consumers said they purchase candy for a snack at least occasionally—the highest of any snacking category—according to Technomic’s 2018 Snacking Occasion Consumer Trend Report.
CSP’s sister publication, Winsight Grocery Business (WGB), partnered with consumer-curated browsing outlet Shopper Army—owned by Toronto-based research firm BrandSpark—to help retailers stock today’s hottest candies. They compiled shoppers’ favorite confections currently on the market using a scale of one to five stars and provided consumer feedback for each.
Here is the full list of confections …
1. Naturally Bare Chia Coconut Bites
5 stars
Naturally Bare Chia Coconut Bites is a fruity concoction from PepsiCo-owned Bare Snacks. It combines coconuts, cane sugar, pineapple, juice concentrate, chia seeds and sea salt into crunchy bites. The product is free from gluten, dairy, nuts, extra oil, GMOs, preservatives, trans fats, cholesterol and artificial additives.
“I loved feeling that I was really doing the best for my body when choosing this snack,” one consumer said.
Bare Snacks also recently launched three new varieties of oven-baked veggie chips to its product line in Beet, Carrot and Sweet Potato flavors.
2. Hershey’s Cookie Layer Crunch
4.88 stars
Hershey’s Cookie Layer Crunch merges a milk chocolate exterior with a shortbread cookie and creamy filling. The product comes in three flavors—caramel, vanilla, triple chocolate and mint. One stand-up pouch contains nine cookies and contains roughly 200 calories.
“The product perfectly combines all three tastes together,” one consumer said. “Caramel creme adds another layer of goodness and softness, and the shortbread cookie is so tasty and gives a crunchy texture.”
3. Reese’s Popped Snack Mix
4.75 stars
The Popped Snack Mixes from Hershey come in two varieties: Hershey’s original and Reese’s. The former contains mini milk-chocolate bars, almonds, pretzels and chocolate-drizzled popcorn. The latter features Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Minis, Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter candy-covered peanuts, pretzels and chocolate-drizzled popcorn.
“The amazing salty and sweet combo cannot be wrongly concocted,” one consumer said. “This will be the mix I would buy at any movie theater if they have them there.”
4. Nutella & Go
4.75 stars
Nutella’s snack-pack mixes the brand’s perennial hazelnut spread with cocoa and dippable breadsticks for a smooth and crunchy treat. The spread is made with sugar, vegetable oil, hazelnuts, skim-milk powder, reduced-fat cocoa powder, soy and a vanilla extract alternative. Meanwhile, the sticks’ ingredients include wheat flour, vegetable oil, salt, barley and yeast. The snack comes in 1.7-ounce cups.
“Nutella & Go is right for anyone who needs a quick and easy snack that involves no mess,” one consumer said. “It is creamy and sweet, and the crunchy breadsticks make it easy to pick up the Nutella spread and eat it easily.”
5. Mentos Gum
4.70 stars
The longtime mint brand offers 10 different flavors of gum ranging from Red Fruit Lime and Tropical to Pure Fresh Spearmint and Ice Flurry. The gum is free of gluten and sugar and is available in either 15-piece, 45-piece or 50-piece containers.
“Since this convenient tub came out, it makes it even easier to just pop one in your mouth whenever the flavor goes stale,” one consumer said. “The flavor lasts for quite a while, too.”
6. Teddy Soft Bakes Vanilla Filling
4.67 stars
Nabisco’s Teddy Soft Bakes are a soft-baked treat containing milk chocolate and a vanilla filling. The bear-shaped products are free from high fructose corn syrup and artificial additives. Each individual treat contains 120 calories.
“I love how easy they are to take with us while we stroll to the park,” one consumer said.
7. Hershey’s Gold Caramelized Creme Candy Bar
4.47 stars
Hershey rides the sweet and salty mix trend with its Gold Caramelized Creme Bar, which combines salty peanuts and pretzel bits with Hershey’s caramel cream.
“This is a great alternative for people who don’t like the taste of chocolate,” one consumer said.
8. Oreo Big Crunch Bar
4.36 stars
Oreo’s Big Crunch Bar features the classic cookies smushed between two layers of rich vanilla cream and European Milka chocolate candy. The 10.5-ounce chocolate bar can be split into tiny square pieces and contains 230 calories per five squares.
“I like the creaminess of the chocolate and crunch of the cookie,” one consumer said. “This will be a regular favorite in no time.”
9. Kinder Joy
4.29 stars
Kinder Joys contain two soft cream layers: one sweet milk and cream-flavored and the other cocoa-flavored. Inside these layers are two chocolate-covered, cocoa-filled wafers. The egg-shaped candy also comes with a separately sealed half that contains various kids’ toys in each package.
“It’s hard to decide which half is better—the creamy white and milk chocolate with crunchy sweet biscuit, or the half with a toy you get to assemble yourself,” one consumer said.
10. Oreo Chocolate Candy Bar
4.27 stars
Another candy bar from the longtime cookie brand delivers crunchy Oreo bits, a smooth cream filling and rich Milka-brand chocolate candy in each bite. The bar comes in regular and king sizes, as well as original and mint flavors varieties.
“I absolutely love how soft the chocolate bar is,” one consumer said. “I like that it’s not overly bulky like other chocolate bars are, and the very thin profile makes for an easy snack to take with me.”
11. Biena Milk Chocolate Roasted Chickpeas
4.0 stars
Chickpeas take a milk chocolate route with this candy option. Biena’s Milk Chocolate Roasted Chickpeas merges creamy milk chocolate with the high-protein legume. Each 3.15-ounce package contains 140 calories, 4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber per serving. The milk chocolate chickpeas are gluten-free, vegetarian, fair trade and non-GMO.
“All of their flavors are delicious, but these new milk chocolate chickpeas are a true discovery,” one consumer said. “They’re a perfect balance of sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy, and are an awesome healthy alternative to chocolate covered pretzels.”