By Howard Riell | July 7, 2023

Candy and snack combinations fulfill c-store customers’ salty and sweet cravings.

If American consumers like Product A, and they like Product B, it just stands to reason that they will absolutely love Product A+B. This is why convenience store retailers should be sure to stock candy snack mixes.

Think hybrid cars. Or chocolate and peanut butter: two great tastes in one candy bar.

The appeal of dual tastes is the reasoning behind the rise of candy snack mixes, an example of channel blurring between both popular product categories — and of an idea whose time has clearly come.

The proof that the reasoning is sound lies in the fact that several of the largest, smartest and most successful candy companies in the U.S. have decided to roll out candy and snack mix combos, and sales thus far have been brisk. Among the recently released hybrid products are snack mixes that include chocolate-covered pretzels or chocolate and popcorn.

Another candy giant is combining chocolate and peanut butter with nuts and pretzels.

The sweet taste meets the intersection of candy and snacks, and it continues to rise in popularity. Chicago-based market research firm Circana, formerly IRI, reported that sweet snacks such as snack bars, granola bars and clusters rolled in at $819 million in 2022, a powerful 9.5% gain.

These types of snack and candy medleys are a trend, and a growing one, and the reason is self evident. These items play on customers’ love of salty and sweet combos, giving them candy and a snack in the same item.

Indeed, mixing and matching of familiar flavors has itself become an innovative strategy among candy makers, rendering the old new once more.

This was clearly in evidence at the National Confectioners Association’s Sweets & Snacks Expo in June at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

It is axiomatic that while consumers always have their favorite brands and long-cherished varieties of candies and snacks, they also enjoy mixing things up a bit with new products and/or interesting and unique flavors and flavor combinations. That alone should signal a green light to convenience store operators to fully embrace this trend which, after all, only gives consumers more of what they already love.

Source: CStore Decisions