The development of the candy industry in recent years.

The candy industry, as one of the two major traditional snack industries in our country, has maintained rapid growth, with its potential market share continuously expanding. In the past five years, China's candy market has maintained an annual growth rate of 8%-12%. By 2011, the scale of China's candy industry had reached 62 billion yuan.
While the domestic candy industry is developing and expanding, various types of candies such as health-oriented, low-sugar, fun, and eco-friendly are collectively making a strong push into China's candy market internationally. In contrast, products in China's candy market appear quite homogeneous. Under the dual pressure of foreign companies' competition and fierce domestic competition, product development in China's candy industry faces significant obstacles.

The competition among domestic candy companies mainly remains at the price level, and their development in new areas is significantly lacking compared to foreign investments. The serious phenomenon of product homogeneity severely hinders domestic candy companies from competing with foreign brands, resulting in much lower profits than those of foreign brands. The main battlefield for domestic brands has also been forced down to the second and third-tier markets.

It is worth noting that the global annual per capita consumption of candy is about 3 kilograms, while in our country it is only 0.7 kilograms; thus, there is enormous development potential for China's candy market. Domestic companies should focus on product innovation and continuously launch new products to enrich their product variety. The Chinese candy industry faces a demand pattern characterized by small products and a large market; candy production companies are currently undergoing structural adjustments, product updates, survival of the fittest, and corporate restructuring. As the market operation of confectionery shifts from product competition to marketing competition completes, the candy industry enters an era of brand competition.