16 trends to know in sweets and chocolate

Are you planning a refresh of your confectionery selection? Read on to find out the top 16 trends you need to know about.

Eco-friendly confectionery

Consumers, especially Gen Z, are continually thinking about the impact their diets have on the world around them. They want to know that what they put in their basket has been made in a considered way, with ethical, sustainable ingredients, by people paid a fair wage. They’re also more frequently being drawn to products (especially treats and snacks) sold in plastic free, compostable or recycled packaging. And the confectionery industry is sitting up and taking notice. A clear sense of environmental purpose is being demonstrated by many artisan brands, who are putting sustainability front and centre of their future plans.

1. Sustainable Cocoa

With sustainability so high up on the list for today’s chocolate lovers, it’s worth spending time getting to know makers, to truly appreciate and understand their offering. Look for producers who aren’t simply paying lip service to sustainability, seeking out those with strong ties to cocoa plantations and farmers, who can ensure good practice has been followed throughout the chain.

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Firetree, Solomon Islands Makira Island 75%: A gorgeously dark bar made with cacao sourced from the remote Solomon island of Makira. With hints of grapefruit, raisin and caramel.

Willie’s Cacao, Pistachio & Date: This 100% cacao bar is sweetened simply with fruit and nuts, which marry beautifully with the Rio Maranon beans. It demonstrates just how good dark chocolate can be.

Islands Chocolate, 55% Milk Chocolate Buttons: Giant dark milk buttons, crafted with the brand’s own intensely flavoured St Vincent cocoa, with aromas of malt and toffee, leading to buttery creaminess.

2. Bean to bar chocolate

Making bean to bar chocolate is a finely honed skill that begins with selecting the finest cocoa, treating it with respect throughout the process to usher out its nuanced aromas and flavours. This type of chocolate can range in taste from toffee, butterscotch and banana, to honey, red berries, tropical fruit, and toasted nuts. Sample it in store with your customers and open the door to a whole new world for them.

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Tosier, 70% Colombia Coffee: A multi award-winning single origin bar, balancing sustainable cocoa from the world’s top 5% producer with single estate Monmouth Coffee from the Narino region. 

Soma Chocolatemaker, Bachelor’s Hall: A stunning 70% dark chocolate bar, made with Jamaican beans sourced from the unique, spring water fed valley between the Blue and John Crow mountains.

Solkiki , 70% Chuao: Outstanding, award-winning chocolate, made in very small batches using rare cocoa beans from the world’s first protected cacao domain. Has notes of citrus, nut and spice.

3. Plastic-free confectionery

Chocolate doesn’t need to be wrapped in plastic, and we’re seeing more and more brands innovating and moving away from it, choosing instead card, or compostable options which chime with consumers. 

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Cox & Co, Bee Pollen & Honey: Available in large bar, and mini format, in fully sustainable packaging, this craft chocolate bar blends 61% cacao with honey and a sprinkling of sweet bee pollen. 

Fatso, Sweet Tart: Ethically sourced dark chocolate with sweet cherry and almond inclusions. New this year from this fun brand, and sold in plastic-free packaging.

Flower & White, Chocolate Crunch Meringue Bar: An all-natural decadent chocolate meringue bar, smothered in sustainable chocolate and sold in paper recyclable packaging. Only 92 calories per bar.

Free from chocolate and sweets

Any good artisan retailer knows they should have in stock a range of free from goodies, ready to satisfy the sweet tooth of those who, perhaps, need to reduce their sugar intake, can’t tolerate gluten, or who’ve chosen to follow a plant-based diet. HFSS regulations have pushed producers to explore reduced and sugar free options more seriously in the last two years, with delicious results. While the backlash against UPF has also been taken into account, seeing confectionery manufacturers reformulate their free from ranges. The overarching message from shoppers is that they want to enjoy free from sweets and chocolate, but in a more natural way, without excess sweeteners, or artificial ingredients.

4. Sugar-free confectionery

There’s been a sizeable shift in the sugar-free market, which is lifting out of health food stores and into the mainstream, impacted by HFSS regulations. It pays to put thought into this category, especially considering NICE predicts there will be nearly 5 million people living with diabetes in the UK by 2025. Individual bars, sharing bags, and sugar-free gifting options are worth investing in.

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Truede, No Added Sugar Turkish Delight – Mixed Flavour: Customers avoiding sugar don’t have to miss out. They can indulge in this box of authentic Turkish Delight, handcrafted by artisans in Istanbul.

Stockley’s Sweets, Rhubarb & Custard: Surely the ultimate nostalgic flavour? Creamy, vanilla-rich custard, and zippy rhubarb come together in a sugar-free boiled sweet.

Free’Ist, Dark Chocolate – 70% Cocoa with Mint: This bar is a breath of fresh air in the category. Made without sugar or artificial flavourings, and crafted using ethically sourced, single origin cacao from Colombian farmers.

5. Dairy-free confectionery

Around 8% of the UK population is said to be lactose intolerant, but add to that the number of people actively avoiding dairy for health or dietary reasons, and the figure rises considerably. Make your dairy free choices fun, ensure they’re just as delicious as ‘the real thing’, and think about your family audience, as many parents are choosing to limit dairy products in their children’s diets.

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Well & Truly, Crispy Quinoa Oat M&lk Chocolate: Nuggets of crispy, puffed quinoa are swirled with oat milk chocolate to form the base of this indulgent bar, which is then smothered in dark chocolate.

Creative Nature, Super Salted Caramel Magibles: A crunchy dairy, gluten and nut free alternative to the main branded malted chocolate balls…and with 39% less sugar too.

Booja-Booja, Raspberry Scrunch Chocolate Wonders: Little morsels of scrumptious chocolate truffle with a sweet hit of raspberry. New this year. Gluten, dairy, and soya free. 

6. Vegan confectionery

The conversation around veganism has changed in the UK recently, with those following a plant-based diet becoming more and more cynical about processed vegan foods and their impact on health. They’re looking for clean ingredient decks which put real, natural ingredients first.

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Biona, Sour Snakes: Award-winning lip-smacking sweet snakes, made with natural organic ingredients, and no artificial colours or flavours. Suitable for vegans. 

Freedom Mallows, Mini Pink & Whites: An innovative recipe means these vegan mallows are just as fluffy and puffy as their counterparts. They’re also free from gluten, dairy, egg, fat, soy, nuts, palm oil and corn syrup.

Sweet Lounge, Vegan Fizzy Watermelon Slices: A classic sweet shop favourite – made vegan. These refreshing treats are all-natural, and sold in compostable pouches.

Luxury

Despite feeling the pinch in their finances, consumers continue to treat themselves. Rather than splashing out on fancy tasting menus and expensive holidays, they’re keeping it simple, looking for affordable ways to reward their hard work – and one of the things they’re reaching for more frequently is confectionery. But not your standard corner shop buys. They want to indulge in single-serve, ethically-made chocolate bars, and boxes of truffles and fine pralines to share at home with loved ones after a home cooked meal. And when buying gifts, they’re seeking out products that are unique and exquisite.

7. Luxury chocolate bars

Insiders say consumers are dedicating much more attention to the luxury bar category, and are willing to pay more for a higher quality, single origin, sustainable bar - something they can nibble after dinner over the course of a few evenings. Try positioning premium bars near your wine selection, or meal solutions.

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Melt Chocolates, Nut & Salt Chocolate Library Box: Handcrafted in London, this plastic-free collection brings together some of the brand’s most exceptional bars, from Dark Chocolate Hazelnut, to Salty Milk Chocolate.

Pump Street Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookie 60%: Available in the craft maker’s regular or new miniature formats. The bakery’s cookie dough is caramelised and tumbled into its bean to bar 60% Ecuadorian chocolate.

Bare Bones Chocolate, Honduras 55% Milk: An award-winning single origin bar made using cocoa from Honduras’ Copan region. With notes of cream, fudge and raisin.

8. Luxury chocolate truffles

Speciality shoppers are no longer satisfied by high-sugar truffles, made with glucose syrup and hydrogenated oils. They’re looking for richly flavoured artisan varieties, including real cream and butter, which allow the true nature of the cocoa beans to shine through.

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The Chocolate Society, Marc de Champagne Truffles: Super smooth, sensuous chocolates, made with single-origin milk chocolate and real Champagne. Finished with a dusting of icing sugar.

Highland Chocolatier, Coffee Pairings: Velvety truffles and pralines, chosen by chocolatier Iain Burnett to match perfectly with a range of coffees. A wonderful gift. Comes complete with a coffee pairing guide.

Trwffl, Barti Spiced Rum Chocolates: These delectable truffles are made in small batches in Pembrokeshire, using natural ingredients. They’re whirled with local Barti rum, infused with spice and laver seaweed.

9. Confectionery gifts

When buying gifts in speciality retail, consumers want access to an array of products they won’t find on the high street. Work with your suppliers to find brands that offer limited runs or limited edition chocolate and sweet collections of the highest order to appeal to your customer base.

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Chocolatia, Chloe’s Signature Collection: A collection of Chloe Oswald’s award-winning chocolates, including Coconut & Lime, Hazelnut Latte and Isle of Sky Sea Salt Caramel.

Chocolate and Love, Chocolate Napolitains: Within the intricately illustrated botanical tin, discover 30 pieces of Fairtrade chocolate to share, from Rich Dark 71%, to 55% Sea Salt.

Wood Row Chocolate, Seasonal Collection: Chef Simon Woodrow’s chocolates are glossy and visually stunning, layering handmade mallows, caramels, pralines, truffles and pate de fruits. Bars are also available.

10. Artisan sweets

Think outside the box when curating your sweetie collection. Go beyond bon bons and fudge, and excite your customers with brittles, hand pulled soft rock, fine artisan jellies, Turkish delight, comfits and pastels. Packaging matters here, especially as this category is ripe for gifting. Getting it right will pay dividends during the key present giving seasons.

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Hill Street, Natural Fruit Pastels: Presented in the confectioner’s pretty pastel pink boxes, these soft, intensely fruity pastels are made with real ingredients, in flavours spanning blackcurrant to passionfruit.

Champion & Reeves, Soft Nougat: Satisfyingly chewy pieces of nougat, made using Spanish orange blossom honey and Italian candied orange peel. 

Lavolio, Vegan Forest Chocolates: These are charming. A tin of handmade Italian candies, including toasted almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts, covered in chocolate, and finished with a crisp sugar shell.

Innovative

The world of confectionery never stands still, with key trends across the food industry having made a huge impact across multiple categories in the last year. We’re seeing the emergence of confectionery products infused with functional and adaptogenic ingredients in response to growing interest in the wellbeing sphere. HFSS regulations have ushered a wide range of natural fruit snacks into the arena, where they are standing up to traditional sweeties. And there are fun new formats popping up every single month. Make your mark by seeking out something a little bit different for your aisles this season.

11. Functional confectionery

More and more producers are thinking about the ways they can introduce functional ingredients into their ranges – from adaptogenic, stress-relieving mushrooms, to herb and spice blends, superfoods, vitamins and minerals, and gut-friendly bacteria. This trend is starting to cross over into confectionery, and is definitely one to watch.

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Spellbound, State of Zen Botanical Truffles: Delicate, natural raw dark gianduja truffles infused with wild orange essential oil and lemon balm, designed to alleviate tension and anxiety.

Tweek Sweets, Smoothie Chews: Juicy, fruity, smoothie flavoured sweets, containing 95% less sugar than comparable products, and packed with added fibre.

Tula Code, Mushroom Chocolate Bark: This bar is naturally sweetened with dates, and filled with adaptogenic lion’s mane and cordyceps mushroom extracts, alongside berries, lucuma, grapes, pecan, and ayurvedic spices.

12. Real fruit snacks

These certainly aren’t traditional, but there’s a great deal of interest in fruit snacks which can take the place of sugar-filled sweets. Natural, lower in calories, and made without anything artificial, they are a perfect fit for larger stores looking for something interesting that fits in with HFSS regulations. A hit with parents, they’re worth exploring if you have a large family following as well.

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Squished, Blueberry Rescue Fruit Balls: Each 40g pack is made with 50 blueberries ‘rescued’ from becoming surplus waste. With no added sugar, gluten or nuts.

Soul Fruit, Dragon Fruit Chips: Unique slices of 100% natural dragon fruit, dried to a crisp. A single serve is one of your five a day.

Trufru, Nature’s Raspberries: Ripe, fresh raspberries, frozen, and drenched in lashings of white chocolate, then finished in a dark chocolate shell.

13. Fun formats

Eating chocolate is supposed to be a pleasure. Introducing formats shoppers might not have seen before, and excellent quality novelty items is a good way to start conversations in store.

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Russell & Atwell, Dirty Blond: All natural truffles to stock in your chiller! This irresistible addition to the range blends sustainable cocoa and fresh cream with white chocolate, finished in a blond chocolate shell.

Chococo, Ollie the Duck: This will go down a treat in farm shops and garden centres. Ollie is made with oat milk and 43% Colombian cocoa. He’s also gluten free and arrives in a 100% plastic-free box.

The Chocolate Detective, 12 Robin Eggs: Part of a series of speckled chocolate bird eggs which make wonderful gifts. Made in France using Ecuadorian cocoa, each little shell if filled with fine hazelnut praline.

Traditional confectionery

Nostalgia is a key trend in food and drink right now, as shoppers crave the comfort of traditional foods and flavours from their childhood. As well as investing in premium craft chocolate bars, they’re interested in artisanal fudges and brittles, made the old-fashioned way, with real butter in copper pans. They’re loving hand pulled candies that hark back to yesteryear, and the retro favourites their parents will have stashed away in the cupboards when they were little, from peppermint chocolate thins, to chocolate liqueurs. Also showing surprising growth are chocolate covered fruit and nuts, with new brands carving out a niche here, bringing to the market products which feel familar, but are crafted using the very finest ingredients to appeal to the discerning modern consumer.

14. Fudge and toffee

The soft, yielding texture of a piece of fudge, or the snappy bite of toffee is often enough to tug on the nostalgia strings, conjuring memories of fairgrounds or seaside holidays. Lean in to the playfulness and traditional nature of these sweets by choosing brands with a strong sense of heritage.

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Walker’s Nonsuch, Original Creamy Toffee Slab: A huge 400g sharing slab of the traditional confectioner’s creamy toffee, made with natural ingredients, including real butter. Comes with a novelty hammer.

Devon Cottage, Organic Sea Salted Fudge: An award-winning fudge, with sea salt crystals added to enhance and contrast the buttery sweetness with mineral notes of the sea.

Second Street, Roasted Hazelnut Toffee Brittle Dark Chocolate: The Irish maker’s irresistible plant-based toffee brittle, enhanced with hazelnuts, and coated in smooth Belgian dark chocolate.

15. Classic confectionery gifts

Food is a conversation starter – especially when it sparks memories. Within your gifting range, be sure to stock up on those classic favourites which you know will appeal to multiple generations, encouraging them to share stories of lunches, dinners and Christmases past.

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Summerdown, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Dominoes: Moreish, svelte dark chocolate thins which can be snapped down the middle for two perfect bites. Each infused with the farm’s single-estate Black Mitcham peppermint oil.

Anthon Berg, Chocolate Cocktails: In all-new packaging, expect nothing but the best. The finest, bar-style cocktails, made with premium branded spirits, in a crisp chocolate shell.

Love Cocoa, Patisserie Chocolatier Selection: An assortment of 21 truffles to share, made using ethically sourced cocoa and with fillings based on classic puds, from Birthday Cake Caramel, to Billionaire Bite, and Lemon Cheesecake.

16. Fruit and nut chocolates

We expect the coated fruit and nut category to grow over the coming year. Many of the products emerging are HFSS compliant, and chime with consumer interest in more natural treats that are high in protein.

Set your business apart by looking for products with a point of difference. Chocolate dates are on the up, as are sweet trail mixes, combining chocolate pieces with nuts, dried fruit and seeds.

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Forest Feast, Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Dates: A seriously indulgent way to enjoy dried fruit. The finest North African deglat nour dates are double dipped, first in peanut butter, then in smooth milk chocolate.

Nibble Simply, Lux Choc Nutty Mango Mix: The brand’s award-winning low sugar 81% Madagascan chocolate chips marry with toasted hazelnuts, almonds and dried mango in this HFSS compliant snack.

Cambrook, Hazelnuts – Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate: Hazelnuts are tossed and coated in Cambrook’s Italian caramelising pans for a pleasing, toasty crunch, before being smothered in smooth dark chocolate.