Candy and confectionery products depend on eye appeal to an unusual degree, due to their status as impulse items and as products often marketed to children. At the same time, candy is subject to supply price pressure for sugar, cocoa and other ingredients, as well as flexible film. Converting techniques that maintain graphic appeal while cutting costs, such as alternatives to reverse-print lamination, will continue to grow in importance.
The $23 billion acquisition of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. by Mars Inc. promises to alter the industry landscape. Wrigley has used packaging effectively through innovative sizes and shapes and imaginative use of rigid packaging. The merger gives Mars the potential for packaging synergy between Wrigley’s gums and mints and its own brands, both chocolate and non-chocolate. If that happens, other industry players will be forced to innovate to keep up.