The concept of sugar control is getting hotter and hotter, but this year the candy business is not down but up

As the epidemic has made consumers pay more attention to health, consumption such as sugar control and sugar-free has also become one of the new consumption trends in recent years, and even "talking about sugar color change" has once impacted the growth of the traditional candy industry. However, the first financial reporter interviewed learned that in the case of sugar control heat is not reduced, the candy business of the head company this year is not down but up. In the industry's view, the continuous iteration of innovative candy products in recent years, especially the emergence of sugar reduction and functional candy, has also enabled the candy industry to find new growth points.
The Good Candy Business
The first financial reporter saw in a 7-11 convenience store on the south road of the Zhongguancun Academy of Sciences in Beijing, In the middle of the day, the store was full of people, and in the middle of the store, a line of chocolate and confectionery products filled the shelves, and every now and then a customer would take a box (bag) from the top. Convenience store staff told reporters that this year's candy sales are better than in previous years, especially some throat, digestion and other functional candy sold well.
For a long time, delicious sweets have become less and less popular. On the one hand, this comes from consumers' concern about health. A 50g bar of chocolate has about 270 thousand calories, which is equivalent to a bowl of rice. On the other hand, changes in the population structure have brought about a decline in demand for wedding candies, which have impacted the candy market.
Candy expert Ding Zhongwei once told the First Financial Reporter that in recent years, the publicity about the dangers of excessive intake of sugar has changed consumers' understanding of sugar, and even some post-80s and post-90s parents have rejected products that allow their children to eat high sugar.
According to the data of China Food Industry Association, since 2015, the total output of candy in enterprises above designated size in China's candy industry has shown a downward trend of development. From 2020 to 2022, the total output of candy manufacturing enterprises above designated size will be 3.117 million tons, 3.043 million tons and 2.8 million tons respectively.
But it is worth noting that this year's head candy business has a good growth.
Recently, China Wangwang (00151.HK) announced its financial results for the six months ended September 30, 2023. The company achieved revenue of RMB 11.27 billion, up 4.1% year on year, net profit of RMB 1.73 billion, up 8.5% year on year. In the specific business, the growth of its business on the one hand from the dairy and beverage business rose 7.1%, on the other hand, the rice and confectionery business hit a new high in the second half of the year.
Hsu Fu Chi also maintained the rapid growth of the candy business, which responded to the First Financial Network today that Hsu Fu Chi candy has achieved a 30% growth this year, of which fudge is up to 79%.

Kantar Research found that the return of consumers to out-of-home consumption scenarios this year was the main driver of the recovery in confectionery category sales. In contrast, candy became one of the fastest recovering categories compared to the same period last year.
Recently, a number of staff of Taobao candy sales enterprises also confirmed to the first financial reporter that this year's candy business is "much better" than the same period in previous years.
However, the reporter noted that the current growth of the domestic candy industry has been greatly different from the past, especially this year, the growth feedback of traditional candy is flat, and innovative candy products are becoming the main force driving the growth of the industry.
China Want Want responded to the First Financial Network that candy is a high-quality consumer goods product that is not affected by the economic cycle, and the company's candy business revenue in the first half of the fiscal year showed a high single-digit growth compared with the same period last year. The reason for the eye-catching performance of the candy business, in addition to the brand advantage, China Want Want blamed it on the drive of new consumption scenarios and innovative products.
On the one hand, China Want Want to take the initiative to increase channel penetration, in addition to the traditional channels, China Want Want to accelerate the expansion of convenience stores, e-commerce platforms, snack channels, vending machines and other new channels; On the other hand, product innovation has also contributed significantly to sales. For example, the popularity of fudge category has risen rapidly in recent years. In the first half of this year, Want Want China launched new products within five years, accounting for nearly double digits of the overall revenue of fudge. At the same time, China Want Want has also developed functional candy products for the health track, aiming at the functional needs of health segmentation.
Hsu Fu Chi also responded that although consumers pursue sugar control, it does not mean that they do not eat sugar at all. As a snack, candy still has a certain market demand, and Hsu Fu Chi has turned to targeting candy that meets consumer tastes and health needs. At present, Hsu Fu Chi has a variety of different flavors and types of candy in its product line, including low-sugar and zero-sugar candy, and has established a joint research center with South China University of Technology to develop innovative candy products.
Zhu Danpeng, vice president of the Guangdong Food Safety Promotion Association, told the first financial reporter, This year's rapid recovery of the flow of domestic personnel, but also to speed up the recovery of demand for candy and gifts, in addition to candy companies in innovative products, innovative marketing has also taken a series of measures including co-branded, but also the overall growth of business.
Functional candy categories are mixed
Wang Qi, deputy party secretary and vice president of the China Food Industry Association, revealed at the 2023 China Candy Forum, China's confectionery industry is facing the development trend of enterprise transformation and upgrading, especially driven by the continuous improvement of national health awareness, consumers have long been dissatisfied with simple sweets, and the new taste and new functional candy market is further expanding.
In this round of candy industry growth, functional candy has played an important role, which conforms to the new trend of the market "health food snacking," and the heat is growing rapidly. On some e-commerce platforms, a large number of functional candy brands have emerged, which target consumers' needs in the field of health by adding probiotics, nutrients and other ingredients.
According to the report of China Smart Research Consulting, the production and demand of functional candy in China will reach 189 thousand tons and 176 thousand tons respectively by 2020. It is estimated that the production and demand of functional candy in China will reach 231,000 tons and 217,000 tons respectively by 2023, and the market size is expected to exceed 29 billion yuan.

The company produced sugar-free mint candy, sugar-free coffee sugar and other products. Sugar-free tablet-pressed candy does contain sugar, but these sugars are mainly substitutes such as sugar alcohols, not sucrose. The definition of sugar-free tablet candy refers to foods that do not contain sucrose (cane sugar and beet sugar), glucose, maltose, fructose, etc. According to GB28050-2011 National Food Safety Standard "General Principles for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods," "sugar-free or sugar-free" means that the sugar content per 100 grams or 100 milliliters of solid or liquid food is not more than 0.5 grams. This means that "sugar-free" in sugar-free tablet-sized confectionery does not mean that it is completely sugar-free, but rather that it contains less than this standard. In fact, these products often contain substitutes such as sugar alcohols (e.g. xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, mannitol) that do not raise blood sugar and are therefore considered "sugar-free" or "low-sugar" foods.
Although sugar-free tablet-pressed candies do not contain sucrose, they may contain other types of sugars such as starch, inulin, fructooligosaccharides, isomalt, etc., which do not directly cause elevated blood sugar and are therefore referred to as "non-free sugars."