ROCKVILLE, Md. (PRNewswire-USNewswire) — American food retailers seeking to scare up increased sales of candy products during autumn are likely in for a sweet surprise. Last year, sales of seasonal Halloween chocolate candy reached $217 million, up 12 percent. Such growth outperformed purchases of similar seasonal chocolate products during Christmas and was on par with percentage gains experienced for Valentine's Day.
The findings were published in Chocolate Candy in the U.S., 10th Edition by market research firm Packaged Facts. The report can be found here.
The top five marketers of seasonal Halloween chocolate — Hershey, Mars, Nestle, Russell Stover, and R.M. Palmer—account for 98 percent of the category's dollar sales. Hershey and Mars alone account for roughly 87 percent of Halloween chocolate sales. Mars attributes the success of its Variety Bags as a major area of growth for the company during the holiday.
The overall U.S. market for chocolate grew 4 percent, reaching $21 billion in 2013. Everyday chocolate dominates the overall market, accounting for almost 83 percent of sales with the remainder attributable to premium chocolate. However, premium chocolate grew at a faster rate than everyday chocolate, which makes the growth of Halloween chocolate products especially impressive considering that these typically bagged rather than boxed candies are less likely to be of the premium variety, notes Packaged Facts research director David Sprinkle.
With Lindt & SprĂĽngli having acquired Russell Stover this past July, it will be interesting to see what the powerhouse duo has planned for the chocolate market, especially in regards to seasonal premium chocolate offerings. Though claiming only 7 percent of seasonal Halloween chocolate sales last year, Russell Stover already stands out from other marketers in terms of unit sales. While the bigger marketers sell bagged Halloween chocolate, Russell Stover sells more individual units, which could potentially be parlayed into increased sales of individual premium Halloween chocolate units should Lindt guide momentum in that direction.
For more information on Chocolate Candy in the U.S., 10th Edition and other reports in Packaged Facts' industry-leading catalog of market research reports please visit our website.
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Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services.