Western Europe

Sales of chocolate confectionery struggled in 2023, as the cost of key ingredients including sugar and cocoa hit the manufacturers hard, with players forced to pass on the increase in production costs to the consumer. Indulgence has long maintained…

Chocolate confectionery in Italy in 2024 is following the general trend of value being supported over volume due to lingering inflationary pressures. However, any volume challenges in subcategories are being balanced by the popularity of seasonal…

Gum saw strong growth in 2023 in retail volume and current value terms as the category continued to recover from the huge decline in sales seen during the height of the pandemic. However, while the category has continued to see healthy growth in 2024…

Gum in Italy continues to achieve positive value and volume sales in 2024. Notably, gum consumption is strongly related to an out-and-about, sociable lifestyle, whereas such activities were curbed during the era of the pandemic restrictions and…

Sales of ice cream declined sharply in retail volume terms in 2023, with France experiencing lower temperatures and greater instability in the weather than in 2022. Whilst value sales grew this was due to price rises, with volume sales fell across…

Ice cream remains in a small negative volume slump in Italy in 2024, albeit with sales improved from 2023. Meanwhile, value is better supported by inflated prices. The overall negative performance is being affected by a slump in take-home ice cream,…

Savoury snacks is having another good year in 2024 although certain categories are seeing a much stronger performance than others in terms of volume growth. Potato chips, for instance, is seeing solid growth in volume terms while the category’s value…

Savoury snacks are seeing a positive performance in Italy in 2024, in both volume and value terms. This is strongly supported by the “snackification” trend, whereby consumers eat fewer, full, sit-down meals and, instead, snack more often during the…

Snacks continues to see strong growth in current value terms in 2024, largely boosted by inflation and price rises. However, snacks also looks set to deliver volume growth, albeit with sales of with certain products declining as consumers switched to…

Sales in snacks in Italy in 2024 are being characterised by growth in terms of value, while volume tends to be a little lower due to lingering inflationary pressures. That said, inflation is notably easing in 2024, thus heralding a gradual return to…

Sales of sugar confectionery saw further progress in 2023, with retail volume sales exceeding pre-pandemic levels. The category has continued to see positive growth in retail volume terms in 2024 boosted by the revival of children’s birthday parties…

Sugar confectionery is achieving positive sales in both value and volume terms in Italy in 2024. However, performance differs between categories, with boiled sweets and pastilles, gummies, jellies and chews seeing good growth in both value and volume…

Sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks looks set to see a return to growth in retail volume terms in 2024 after a challenging couple of years in which sales declined. Growing health concerns played a role in dampening demand in 2022/2023, with…

Sales of biscuits, snack bars, and fruit snacks in Italy in 2024 are being supported by a particular emphasis on protein/energy bars. This phenomenon can be attributed to several reasons. Firstly, there is a growing awareness of the importance of…

In 2024, chocolate confectionery in Ireland remains impacted by the global cocoa and sugar shortages, which continue to drive strong price increases. High single-digit price hikes follow on from the previous year’s double-digit rises. The…

Chocolate confectionery is seeing healthy growth in current value terms in 2024, although sales are stagnating in volume terms. Fluctuations in cocoa prices in 2024 have contributed to the positive value growth with manufacturers being forced to…

Chocolate confectionery in the Netherlands is recording robust retail current value growth in 2024, though retail volume sales are falling, and a faster rate than was recorded for the previous year. For the second consecutive year, average unit…

Following a period where inflation reached an historic 40-year high in 2023, the average unit price of chocolate confectionery in the UK increased by double digits. The heightened costs across the supply chain, including transportation, energy,…

Gum in Ireland is recording marginally positive retail volume sales growth in Ireland in 2024, following on from a pattern set in 2023 when inflation impacted consumer spending. Pressures remain in 2024 even though inflation has slowed somewhat.…

Gum sales exceeded expectations and had already reached pre-pandemic volume sales levels by the end of 2023. In 2024, the category continues to grow albeit at a slower pace compared to the previous two years when the category was recovering from the…