2016 Global State Of The Confectionery Industry:Despite currency fluctuations and regional conflicts, sweets remain resilient
Currency devaluations complicate sales projections and year-to-year comparisons while regional conflicts continue to wreak havoc on confectionery consumption. Nonetheless, wherever there’s peace and stability, consumers want a bit of the “sweet life.”
“I say, something’s afoot, candy lovers!” Global confectionery sales to be precise. A casual comparison between last year’s global confectionery sales estimates ($198.4 billion) and this year’s ($183.5 billion) suggests a dramatic 7.5 percent decline. That’s enough to shake anyone out of the doldrums and not only raise eyebrows, but blood pressure as well.
So what’s going on here? Blame it on the strong U.S. dollar, that’s what. As happened in our 2016 Global Top 100, actual revenues, when converted from local currencies against the dollar, showed a decline. Yet, several companies that registered a dollar decline on our list actually registered strong gains in their local currencies. That’s what happens when there’s a seismic shift in currencies such as the dollar gaining strength against the euro last year.