The food and confectionery industries have long been challenged with satisfying demand for tasty treats, along with convenience and choice. Americans want healthier options, but they don’t want to give up their favorite chocolates or confections. In fact, the majority of consumers prefer classic indulgences like chocolate and other candies.
Candy has been enjoyed for generations, and consumers still want the ability to indulge in sweet moments and treat themselves. At the same time, healthy eating is increasingly on consumer’s agendas. Millennials in particular are leading the charge here. Just last year, nearly half (47%) of millennials surveyed by PwC had changed their eating habits towards a healthier diet since the year prior.
Providing more choices alongside all-time favorites is the best way to ensure the industry’s successful future. And the industry has taken notice.
Today, Mars Chocolate and Wrigley, in collaboration with the Partnership for a Healthier America and other industry players announced the creation of the confectionery industry’s first and most significant consumer health and wellbeing standards and commitments. These commitments ensure the leaders of the industry are united in providing more choice and transparency to consumers.
At Mars, we’re proud of the products we make – but we know chocolate isn’t a meal or snack, it’s a treat, and we need to make sure we give our consumers everything they need to make the best choices for themselves. We made the bold step to prominently display calorie counts on the front of all packaging, to stop marketing our chocolate to children, to remove “King Size” offerings for portionable “Sharing Size” options and lower levels of saturated fat. We were also the first confectioner to take these steps and look forward to pioneering more in the years ahead.
We hear our consumers loud and clear in terms of what’s important to their diet today. That’s why we’ve committed over $200 million to keep meeting our consumers’ needs in a few key ways:
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Half of individually wrapped products will be 200 calories or less by 2022
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Replacing “King Size” with “Sharing Size” offerings across the industry, ensuring more portionable, resealable options
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Providing education on candy as a treat, not an everyday snack or meal replacement
Our consumers always come first – and our goal is to ensure we are doing everything we can to support them, particularly when it comes to their health and wellbeing. We also know everyone deserves a fantastic tasting treat every once and a while. That’s why getting this balance right is so important to us, and we’ll continue to do all we can to keep making meaningful progress.
Changes like these aren’t easy, but neither is making a chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hands.