The sleek Gateway Arch, stately Busch Stadium and the muddy Mississippi River snaking along the city's eastern edge are among the most recognizable symbols of St. Louis. But there's one more thing the city is known for: Fierce loyalty to local brands and establishments.

At first glance, all is good in the confectionery world.

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.

As a chef and head chocolate-maker at HEXX, Matthew Silverman is working with Executive Chef Matthew Piekarski to craft an American-style menu of contemporary and classic dishes from various regions around the country.

"It was clear that Thompson Chocolate’s core go-to-market principal was the delivery of a quality product that was made with all-natural chocolate," Dunkin says. "Our niche was in the more premium segment. We were not the low-cost producer in the chocolate novelty segment. We weren’t going to compete on price like compound chocolate products."

Chocolaterie Guylian, makers of the famed Guylian Sea Shell chocolates, will invest €6.8 million ($7.6 million) this year to expand its production capabilities at its facility in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.

Check out the most delicious new candy products Candy Industry's Managing Editor Crystal Lindell brought back from her trip to visit the Goo Goo Cluster store in Nashville, Tenn., as she shares what she loved with Contributor Abigail Watt.

The acquisition will firmly establish Lindt as the No. 3 chocolate candy manufacturer in the U.S. market—still behind Hershey and Mars, but now firmly ahead of Swiss rival and global food leader Nestlé.

When Forest Gump’s mother pointed out that life, like a box of chocolates, is full of surprises, I don’t think she even expected Lindt & Sprüngli to be the one to acquire Russell Stover Candies.