The confectionery market in Italy

Sweets are mainly sugar products, mixed with flavorings and colorings. They are available on the market in various shapes and consistencies:

Hard candies

Filled candies

Toffee candies

Gummy candies

Antique lozenges

Soft and hard licorice

Licorice

Chewing gum

Fruit jellies

In the global context, value is expected to grow by 3.82 percent from 2024 to 2029, when it will reach $83.46 billion. On the European front, the forecast is also positive, as a CAGR of 3.1 percent is expected from 2023 to 2028, which will take the sector to reach $87.98 billion in 2028.

The Italian confectionery market has excellent growth prospects, both in terms of quantity and value. At the regional level, there is a higher value of consumption recorded in the regions of the North, followed by those of the South and, finally, those of the Center. The factor that has the greatest impact on the growth of this market is the increase in sales for family consumption (food retail), which, thanks to its strongly positive trend, counterbalances the instability recorded by sales in the impulse buying segment (bars or other types of retailers).in this regard, it is important to emphasize the growing tendency on the part of operators active in this market to carry the typical dynamics of impulse buying into the family consumption retail segment through the mechanism of displaying products in the forecourt.

Despite this, Italians do not appear to be among the largest consumers of sweets at the European level. This is due, in particular, to the greater importance that the Italian population attaches to main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) than to occasional meals based on sweets and to the greater attention to a proper and healthy diet.