Kopi af Ingredients for the Nordic Industry

Confectionery in Europe is a relatively mature market
progressing modestly by approx. 2% a year.

Confectionery in Europe is a relatively mature market progressing modestly by approx. 2% a year. The major drivers in the market are health, pleasure and convenience. Confectionery manufacturers are aiming to appeal to health-conscious consumers with functional innovations, whilst trying to remain indulgent.
Sugar-free confectionery constitutes about 10% of the confectionery market in Scandinavia with a 15% annual growth. Chewing gum dominates the sugar-free confectionery market, but the sugar-free trend is spreading to chocolate confectionery as well.

Other current trends on the European market are:

• Provenance and authenticity. Single-origin chocolate has experienced high growth over the past years. Consumers are choosing chocolate according to region and the level of cocoa solids (>70 %).
• Sustainability and corporate social responsibility constitute a new way for signalling high morals.
• Functional gum brands are taking shares from regular brands. To compete with this, chewing gum companies must invest in innovation by adding value through functional ingredients.

New EU health and nutrition claims regulation. This came into force in all EU member states on July 1, 2007. The regulation could act as a barrier to new product development in sectors that need to focus more on healthier alternatives, particularly confectionery.
Potential future trends:

Fruit provides an element of healthiness that makes products more acceptable to health-conscious consumers. Fruit and natural will no doubt be the most important health trend in confectionery over the next years.

The organic choice – the fastest growing trend in many Scandinavian countries within the dairy segment – to be further explored in aligning variant in the confectionery industry.

“Mid-afternoon snacks” is estimated to offer the strongest growth potential for confectionery products over the next years.