Report: Healthier eating habits will drive the growth in the Australian confectionery market

The confectionery market in Australia is expected to expand to $2.8bn by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 1.9%, says a report by Canadean. The report indicates that focus on health and nutrition will steer the segment to grow.

Titled ‘Consumer and Market Insights: Confectionery Market in Australia‘, the report details that as consumers become more health-centric their preferences will shift towards smaller food potions. This changing trend has resulted in the entry of smaller sizes and bite-sized options of popular products.

Premium confectionary products are also witnessing a surge in demand from Australia’s substantial high income population. The leading product category is chocolate, whereas the most preferred segment comprises moulded bars and chocolate countlines.

Specialist stores in the country are famous for their variety of gourmet and hand-crafted products even though the bulk of confectionery products are bought from hypermarkets and supermarkets. The key players in Australia’s confectionery market are Mondelez International; Mars, Incorporated; and Nestlé.

The report also states that there is a trend among consumers to move up to gourmet ranges of chocolate with quality ingredients or high cocoa content. Unique products with unusual flavours and exotic ingredients are also in high demand and preferred mainly by the younger demography.

Chocolate prices in Australia have gone up due to declining cocoa supply from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoir, as well as due to increase in domestic production cost. These recent developments have resulted in an increase in import of cheaper products from Asian countries. The current market scenario offers great opportunity to manufacturers to launch innovative products with high-quality ingredients at lower costs to appeal to a larger segment of Australian consumers, according to Canadean.