U.S. Gummy Candy Sales Grow 5% to $3.9 Billion as Growth Shifts Beyond Top Players

U.S. gummy candy sales grew 5% over the past year to $3.9 billion, according to the State of the Industry 2026 report published by Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery on September 4. The more interesting number sits underneath it: the category's largest players posted declines over the same period. Ferrara, the biggest name in the segment, recorded $1.2 billion in sales, down 3%.

Growth at the category level combined with decline at the top is a pattern worth reading carefully, because it says something about where gummy demand is actually moving.

What the Numbers Say

The annual State of the Industry review, built on Circana retail data, tracks the U.S. non-chocolate candy market across categories. Two data points stand out this year:

• **Gummy candy is the growth engine of non-chocolate candy.** At $3.9 billion, the category added 5% year over year, outpacing most other segments in the report.
• **Growth is not concentrated at the top.** Ferrara, the segment leader, fell 3% to $1.2 billion. The data does not allocate the growth precisely, but a category that grows while its leaders shrink is, by definition, growing through smaller and newer players.

The longer trend points the same direction. Circana figures cited by CSP Daily News show gummies growing 11.8% over five years, compared with 6.3% for chocolate. Gummies are not a spike; they are a sustained shift in how U.S. consumers buy candy.

Where the Growth Is Going

The report and recent retail data point to the same set of drivers behind the new volume.

**Texture-led products.** Multi-texture formats keep winning shelf space. Crunchy-coated gummies with a chewy center, layered and filled pieces, and foam-textured gummies all appeared in this year's innovation award lists. NERDS Gummy Clusters, the product that proved the crunchy-chewy combination at scale, reset expectations for what a gummy SKU can look like.

**Clean-label reformulation.** Sour and fruit lines with natural colors, no high-fructose corn syrup, and simpler ingredient lists are moving from specialty shelves into mainstream retail. Product submissions in this year's award programs leaned heavily on "no artificial colors" positioning.

**Flavor intensity.** Sour levels are going up, and sweet-heat combinations built on chili and tropical fruit are appearing across more brands. Flavor is being used as a differentiator precisely because shapes and textures are easy to copy.

**Smaller and private labels.** A category growing through players outside the top tier creates room for store brands, importer-led programs, and new entrants. Retailers need these products because the growth is coming from them.

What This Means for Buyers and Importers

For anyone sourcing gummies rather than selling them under a global brand, the report reads as an opportunity signal.

First, shelf space is opening for non-legacy products. When category growth comes from smaller players, retailers actively look for new suppliers rather than defending existing listings. A buyer with a credible private label program approaches the conversation at a better moment than two years ago.

Second, the winning formats are manufacturable today. Crunchy-coated gummies, foam textures, and layered products run on existing production technology; our pearl and nonpareil cluster gummies and aerated lines are direct counterparts of the formats driving this growth. Buyers do not need to wait for trend products to trickle down through distributors.

Third, reformulation pressure favors factories that can switch systems. Natural colors, sugar-free recipes, and pectin-based builds are now baseline requests from retailers carrying clean-label assortments. A custom development program that can deliver these variants from one source shortens the path from trend to shelf.

The practical takeaway: the U.S. gummy category is growing at 5% a year, the growth belongs to whoever can ship relevant formats fast, and the door is open wider for new suppliers than the headline brand rankings suggest.

Sources

• Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, "State of the Industry 2026: Non-chocolate candy steps up its game" (September 4, 2026): snackandbakery.com
• CSP Daily News, "Evolving the Sweets Aisle: How Consumer-First Innovation Is Reshaping Non-Chocolate Confections" (September 10, 2025): cspdailynews.com