Gum continues to perform well in convenience stores while other segments in the confectionery category have hit a sour note, said Paul Grubbs, vice president of client relationships at Management Science Associates Inc., Pittsburgh, on Monday at CSP’s Convenience Retailing University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Grubbs told category managers in the confectionery category, that overall gum was down 1.2% in 2024. This was a slight dip compared to non-chocolate which was down 5.5% and overall chocolate was down 6.6% in 2024.
“Gum may be showing signs of rebounding,” he said in his presentation regarding total U.S. confectionery trends for 52 weeks ending fourth-quarter 2024.
Grubbs listed improved socializing from the consumer following post-COVID as a reason for gum having good numbers.
“It’s great to see gum coming back,” Grubbs said.
Inflationary headwinds have been troublesome for the confectionery category, Grubbs said. “There is a lot of economic pressure on the consumer and that has a big impact on what is going on in the confection industry,” Grubbs said.
Grubbs described total U.S. chocolate trends in convenience stores as having “overall sluggishness.”
According to MSA data, milk chocolate was down 5.8% and white chocolate was down double digits at 15.7% and dark chocolate was down 17.3%.
“Year-over-year volume trends is also showing a decline,” Grubbs said.
Over the last two years total volume confections in 2023 dipped to 1.4% while in 2024 it dipped to 5.5%, according to data from MSA.
Turning to confection seasonal trends, non-chocolate is showing growth, Grubbs said. “Non-chocolate consumer units were up 34.2% for 52 weeks ending fourth-quarter 2024,” he said.
When it comes to private label, confection sales are trending slightly up, Grubbs said. “Chocolate is driving this overall trend in private label,” he said.
Private-label chocolate volume was up 23.8%, for 52 weeks ending fourth-quarter 2024, according to MSA data.
Turning to seasonal candy, Grubbs said Easter, which is April 20, is late in 2025, which provides retailers a longer selling season.
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