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Feedback from the show floor revealed manufacturers, analysts, and retailers reinforcing a consistent message: confectionery demand remains resilient despite mounting economic pressures.
While the confectionery sector is currently navigating what industry publication Candy & Snack Today reported as an ‘affordability cycle’, speakers throughout the Expo repeatedly characterised the environment as a structural market reset rather than a long-term decline.
According to a recent report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, consumer demand for chocolate has remained strong even as retail prices continue to rise. More significantly, consumers are increasingly trading up to premium chocolate products – a trend that featured prominently across presentations and exhibition booths throughout this year’s Expo.
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The shift has particularly benefited companies such as Lindt & Sprüngli, which maintained one of the show’s largest and most visible presences while continuing to strengthen its premium chocolate business across North America.
A spokesperson for the Swiss chocolatier said the North American market remains strategically important because it offers exposure to one of the world’s largest confectionery sectors, where brand recognition, merchandising and premium positioning heavily influence purchasing behaviour.
Positive Growth in the US Market
Tony’s Chocolonely was another premium-focused brand attracting significant attention on the Expo floor. Its booth remained among the busiest during the opening day, with company representatives reporting continued positive growth in the US market.
The company also used the Expo to debut new product portfolios while highlighting growing interest among US manufacturers and retailers in its Tony’s Open Chain sustainability initiative.
Intentional Consumption Experiences
“The largest beneficiary of the drama surrounding cocoa prices, ironically, may be premium options, whose entire reputation is built on cocoa content,” said Billy Roberts, senior food and beverage economist at CoBank.
Roberts said increasing consumer interest in premium chocolate presents opportunities for the category to evolve beyond impulse purchasing and toward more intentional consumption experiences centred on flavour, indulgence and perceived health benefits associated with higher cocoa content.
Internal research from Lindt & Sprüngli also found that consumers using GLP-1 weight-loss medications continue to purchase chocolate, though many are increasingly favouring smaller, premium-format products.
Across multiple conference sessions, premiumisation emerged as one of the Expo’s defining trends, particularly as major manufacturers showcased investments in premium chocolate, merchandising strategies and North American expansion through some of the exhibition floor’s largest booths.
Anthony Myers
Premium Products Position
Executives and analysts repeatedly stressed that future confectionery growth will increasingly depend on how manufacturers and retailers position premium products, respond to shifting consumer priorities and adapt to evolving shopping behaviours.
During a session focused on premiumisation, Chris Costagli, insights lead at NielsenIQ, said premium chocolate purchases occur less frequently than many retailers assume, with consumers becoming more selective and intentional in their buying habits.
Rather than serving as routine impulse purchases, premium chocolate and confectionery products are increasingly tied to specific occasions and elevated consumption experiences, he said.
Costagli advised manufacturers and retailers to build premium portfolios capable of sustaining repeat purchasing behaviour rather than relying solely on short-term, impulse-driven sales.
Gen Z, Gen Alpha and Millennials
In another well-attended session hosted by Michael Fisher, founder and CEO of Rotten, panellists discussed how younger consumers — particularly Gen Z, Gen Alpha and Millennials — are reshaping expectations across the confectionery category.
The discussion focused heavily on growing demand for better-for-you (BFY) products, cleaner ingredient labels and more elevated flavours and textures.
“One of the panellists summarised the shift simply: more sugar means fewer sales, less sugar means more sales,” Fisher said during the session.
Panellists noted that premiumisation across both chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery categories has increased by as much as 13% in certain retail channels. However, speakers said retailers now face the challenge of determining how premium and BFY products should be integrated into existing store layouts.
Several speakers argued that premium and BFY confectionery products should no longer be relegated to the sidelines of mainstream candy aisles. Instead, they said, retailers should integrate them directly into core confectionery sets through dedicated merchandising strategies, including secondary placements, endcaps and premium-focused displays.
The Rise Of ‘Chocolate Connoisseurs’
Another session, The Changing Cocoa Market: Supply, Trends, and What’s Next for Chocolate, explored how ongoing volatility in cocoa markets is reshaping portfolio development and brand positioning.
Laura Bergan, director of brand, portfolio and customer marketing at Barry Callebaut, said cocoa market uncertainty is increasingly influencing product development, portfolio strategy and brand storytelling.
She also highlighted the rise of ‘chocolate connoisseurs’ – consumers increasingly willing to pay more for flavour diversity, ingredient provenance, craftsmanship and origin stories.
“Chocolate is the engine of taste for premium and growth,” Bergan said.
The discussions throughout the opening day closely mirrored the broader strategy being pursued by premium chocolate manufacturers such as Lindt & Sprüngli, which continues to expand its North American presence through premium positioning, gifting products, and higher-cocoa-content offerings.
Grounded in shopper and generational insights, Fisher and fellow panellists argued that premium and BFY confectionery products are attracting new consumer segments and that thoughtful shelf-space reallocation could help drive broader category growth.
Meanwhile, chocolate prices on US store shelves continued rising into early 2026, with Datasembly reporting a 14.4% year-on-year increase.
“Chocolate manufacturers are looking for ways to decrease the impact of supply challenges, quality fluctuations and volatile cocoa pricing,” Roberts said.
“But those efforts have not been without controversy, whether through reformulations that alter taste profiles or negative consumer reactions to shrinkflation.”
Despite those pressures, Roberts said the broader confectionery sector is increasingly being reshaped by premiumisation, innovation and more intentional consumer purchasing behaviour – trends that were highly visible across both the Expo floor and conference discussions in Las Vegas.