Candy Sales As Sweet As Ever

Non-chocolate bars/packs overtake gum in average sales per store

Candy had another sweet year in convenience stores in 2012, with sales increasing across the board by 4.5 percent per store. This growth was on par with the 4.5 percent increase recorded the prior year. On a dollar basis, the average store added $1,824 in candy sales in 2012 to reach $42,610.

Novelties/seasonal and bagged/repacked peg candy saw the most sales growth industrywide, growing 23.2 percent and 16.5 percent per store, respectively. In terms of share of sales, though, bagged and novelty candy are the smallest contributors. It was chocolate bars/ packs that continued their dominance in this area, accounting for 47.8 percent of average dollar sales per store. Meanwhile, non-chocolate bars/packs sales grew 3.7 percent, overtaking gum to be the second top-selling subcategory and contributing 23.4 percent of average dollar sales for candy.

Gum's struggling sales continued to be a sticking point for convenience store retailers last year. The subcategory experienced a 2.8-percent decline industrywide for a loss of $39 million. Per-store sales fell by 3.5 percent, an average loss of $338.