Pollinating Your Entire Menu: Watermelon Cucumber Salad with Jarrah Honey…

Taste is still king, especially when it comes to candy, jerkies, gummies, chocolates, popcorn and other products we saw on the Sweets & Snacks Expo show floor in Indianapolis. Attendees couldn’t miss a product made with honey in every aisle, reflecting a new era of indulgence, taste, all-natural sweeteners, and celebration moments in the snack space.

Larry Wilson, vice president of industry affairs at the National Confectioners Association, said in his State of Treating 2021 talk that 2020 was the year of everyday candy, and that this pattern will continue through 2021. During the pandemic, consumers balanced physical and emotional health, and treats were an “inherent part of emotional well-being.” Chocolate was the No. 1 treat, Wilson noted, with premium and sugar-free products shining. Both every day and seasonal candy exhibited growth of 6.7% and 3.5%, respectively through May 2021.

Walking the show floor, we saw countless made-with-honey products that conformed to current trends in the confectionery industry. Honey Acres’ exhibited chocolate patties that were dairy- and peanut-free and filled with honey. We loved the flavor combinations, from Dark Chocolate Coffee Honey to Dark Chocolate Orange Honey and Dark Chocolate Mint Honey.