Western Europe

During the COVID-19 pandemic, snacking became a source of comfort for Swedes. In 2022, the volume sales of snacks evened out and declined slightly, while unit prices were impacted by inflation and rising production costs. However, snacking is…

AgriFarm has recently unveiled its latest product line: vegan snack bars crafted from legumes. These come in three novel flavours, namely, roasted vegetables with thyme, Greek herbs with oregano, and Mediterranean with tomato, olive, and basil. The…

Swedes have a high per capita consumption of ice cream and indulge in it throughout the year. However, sales tend to peak during the summer months, heavily influenced by the unpredictable Nordic summer weather. In 2022, ice cream sales declined due…

Planet Foods, the pioneering Greek start-up specialising in plant-based ice cream with an authentic ecological footprint, has made a powerful entry into the Greek ice cream market. Despite being operational for only two years, the company's rapid…

Gum sales, primarily driven by impulse purchases, faced a significant setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With consumers spending more time at home, the need for gum as a quick oral cleaning solution diminished. As a result, gum sales struggled to…

Despite the potential impact of price increases across various snack categories, chewing gum in Greece has exhibited considerable resilience. The typically low price point of chewing gum has ensured that its products remains an accessible purchase…

Chocolate confectionery, as a product area, is set to see retail volume sales continue to normalise in 2023 following the surge seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, inflation and rising production costs had an impact on the development of unit…

Oats have emerged as an increasingly popular ingredient in chocolate confectionery among Greek consumers. Violanta, a player active in both sweet biscuits and chocolate confectionery, has capitalised on this trend by diversifying its product range…

Overall, sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks is seeing flat growth in retail volume terms in 2023, but the performances of the different categories are polarised. For instance, dried fruit continues to see healthy growth in 2023, albeit…

Sugar confectionery is showing signs of stabilisation in 2023 with slower growth in value and volume terms compared to 2022. In 2022 there was a spike in demand due to the recovery of impulse channels and consumers returning to more active lifestyles…

Snacks is performing well with it being expected to post moderate growth in retail volume terms and strong growth in current value terms in 2023. Inflation is still having a strong impact on prices with this being the main driver of value growth.…

After three years of fluctuations, first caused by the pandemic and then due to the shift to hospitality channel, salty snacks has reached a certain degree of stabilisation in 2023 with it seeing strong growth in current value terms. Meanwhile, in…

Ice cream has seen a return to growth in retail volume terms in 2023. The high inflation that hit the market last year put significant pressure on disposable income and led to a gap between volume and value growth, with volume sales of ice cream…

Gum has seen strong growth in both value and volume terms for the second consecutive year in 2023, although sales have still not reached pre-pandemic levels in volume terms. Gum sales depend to a large extent on distribution via impulse channels,…

Chocolate confectionery suffered less from inflation in 2022 compared to many other food categories as global cocoa prices remained stable. However, rising prices of ingredients such as sugar, milk, and oils still put additional pressure on…

Manufacturers of sweet biscuits, snack bars, and fruit snacks faced significant challenges in cost control during the 2022 and the first months of 2023. The ongoing war in Ukraine resulted in shortages of key raw materials like grain, oil, and sugar,…

Sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks saw increasing prices in 2022 and 2023, boosted by inflation and growing production costs. This is leading to positive current retail value sales growth in 2023. Local manufacturer Fazer continues to lead…

Compared with other snacks categories, snack bars and fruit snacks have performed relatively well as people have returned to more normal lifestyles, going back to work or school, and gyms and opting for on-the-go products from convenience stores.…

Sugar confectionery experienced a tumultuous period during the pandemic, and the subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine added further strain to the category. Rising energy prices, increased costs of sugar, transportation, and packaging materials…

Unit prices rose in 2022 and 2023 due to increasing production costs and inflation, which has boosted retail value sales in sugar confectionery. The selection of sugar confectionery in Finland is wide and varied, and the competition remains tense…