India's sweet obsession

The confectionery market in India is expected to grow by 71% in the next four years, as the growing Indian middle-class consumes more gums and jellies, and chocolate continues to be high in demand among children, according to research by Canadean.

The Indian confectionery market was worth close to US$1.3 billion in 2013 and is expected to grow by 71% to reach US$2.2 billion in 2018. Economic growth and development has resulted in rising disposable incomes for India’s middle classes. According to Canadean, this class accounts for 45% of overall confectionery consumption in the country, and more than half of the consumed confectionery is gum. “In India, gum is seen as a luxury item, with branded products predominantly available in urban areas,” said Safwan Kotwal, analyst at Canadean.

Climate also plays a role; in the soaring temperatures of summer in India, consumers prefer gums and jellies over chocolate. Canadean projects that sugar confectionery and gum will outsell chocolate in volume terms; gum is expected to see an increase of 64% in volume consumption by 2018, compared to chocolate consumption, which is tipped to grow by 41%. However, in market value chocolate is still dominant, with the market expected to be worth over US$1 billion by 2018.

While gum is becoming more popular among adults in India, sweets and toffees are still the most popular with children and continue to be high in demand. Children aged 9 years and younger accounted for almost a quarter of sugar confectionery and chocolate consumption in 2013.