After adjusting candy sets in response to supply-chain restrictions over the past few years, convenience-store category managers took stock in 2022 to see what was working and what wasn’t in their sets.
That’s not to say the category isn’t out of the woods with supply shortages—but good manufacturer partners help, says Charlie Iszard, center store manager for CrossAmerica Partners LP, a 252-store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“You couldn’t ask for a better group of people that helped us draw the plan-o-grams, come up with plans and recommend other items that weren’t theirs that we should have in the set,” he says.
In 2022, chocolate candy took in $3,402.6 million in convenience stores, up 8.7% from last year. Unit sales, however, declined 5%.
Nonchocolate candy, a slightly smaller segment with $3,016.6 million in c-store sales, was up 15% in c-store sales from last year. While the segment had more sales this year than in 2021, it was down 0.1%, not quite crossing the line into positive territory.
When Iszard couldn’t get the items he needed, he authorized more items to fill space, he says.
“But in hindsight, we were basically authorizing slow-moving items to fill holes, which we didn’t have an exit strategy for,” Iszard says. “It would have been better to keep expanding and filling holes with the bestsellers. We worked with a lot of the vendors because we would line things up for the year, and then they would start canceling because they couldn’t do it. It was just truly understanding it, not getting aggravated, working through it all.”
Iszard began stocking shelves more strategically, even if it meant only focusing on a few brands.
“The theme that we really pushed was fewer, bigger, better,” says Iszard. “We are not going to do a million things. We’re going to do a few things on the big brands: Reese’s, Snickers, Hershey, Mars, Kellogg’s, Jack Links, Conagra.”
Reese’s received attention from retailers this year while pushing out new innovations, including Reese’s Big Cup Stuffed with Reese’s Puffs and Reese’s Dipped Animal Crackers. In the past few years, the brand also launched big cups stuffed with pretzels as well as big cups stuffed with potato chips.
“I enjoy seeing innovation and being able to shift and make changes in the store that reflect where the trends are going,” says Leslie Crews, center store category manager for The Spinx Co., Greenville, South Carolina. “I thought the Reese’s cup with potato chips inside was really cool.”
Instead of sticking to only the big brands, Crews’ goal is to “keep product on the shelves, quickly find substitutions and have seasonal candy coverage,” all of which have led the 84-store chain to allocate more space to peg candy.
“I’m adjusting my space based on sales and tweaking where I need to based off of sales trends,” she says.
Trying out new items, especially with variety across generational preferences, also helps Iszard discover the next big thing.
“I’m a big believer in experimenting,” he says. “I know 80% of the sales come from 20% of the items, and so basically, the other 80% you can experiment with, and I want to have fun. You have to try it. That’s the neat thing about the category in marketing.”
Novelty candy had double-digit growth in unit sales in 2022, up 29.1%—performing better than chewy candy, hard sugar, licorice, specialty nuts/coconuts and plain mints in the nonchocolate category.
Nerds saw exceptional growth in the novelty candy segment, up 353.3% in unit sales. Its c-store sales were up 487.5% from last year at $39.8 million, which is nearly twice as much than the other top brands—Baby Bottle Pop, Juicy Drop, Kidsmania and Toxic Waste. Novelty candy was up $168.6 million in c-store sales, a 55.4% increase from 2021.
Nerds outperformed itself with its 5-ounce Assorted Variety, reeling in $14.6 million, up 61.6% in c-store sales and 36.9% in unit sales. Chewy candy with a variety of flavors is having a moment, as Skittles 3.3-ounce Assorted Fruit rose even higher than Nerds in unit sales (up 43.1%), but not c-store sales (up $7.4 million).
The dynamic category is a perk for Brad Connell, senior category manager of center store for bp America, Chicago.
“You have seasonality with candy and snacks, even though it’s year-round, and then seasonal candy promotions,” says Connell. “It’s not static—it’s always changing and there is always innovation. There is always excitement driven by the brands that I work with day in and day out.”