Honey Confections Display Less Guilt, Exciting…

National Candy Month may be in June, but consumers are choosing to enjoy confections year-round — with several new items on the wish list.

1. More nutritious ingredients. Chocolate that’s good for you? It’s possible thanks to plant-based inclusions like honey, nuts, seeds and fruit. All-natural, clean label honey is booming in chocolate products, thanks in part to functional properties like trace amounts of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and all-natural energy.

2. Unique flavors and textures. Consumers are increasingly interested in new and unique flavor combinations that give a wow factor in confections. Honey interwoven in crunchy, chewy and gooey chocolate bars, for example, give an existing juxtaposition of texture. There are 3,000 different varietals of honey with unique flavor profiles, giving candy developers endless possibilities to create and innovate.

3. Personalization. “Better-for-you” is an extremely personal term. Luckily, confectionery products like candy boxes and chocolate bars are easily customizable — from handcrafted functional ingredients to individual wrapping to bite-sized options — manufacturers are working to provide something for everyone in the category.

Market research firm IRI found that the chocolate candy category brought in $18.1 billion at the end of last year, an increase of 9.1% from the previous year. Chocolate candy boxes and bars brought in a majority of those sales, as evidence in these delectable, trendy made-with-honey confections.