America will soon start to see waves of Brazilian free-from products emerge on their shelves, with the country looking into the ‘better-for-you’ products which are made using the nation’s renowned acai berry.
Currently, the Brazilian Cocoa, Chocolate, Peanut and Candies Manufacturers Association (ABICAB) has 100 members in Brazil’s sweets and snacks industry, which include some huge names on a global scale such as Mondelēz, Nestlé, Hershey, Mars and Ferrero. So far, around 34 of their members have been brought into markets outside of the country thus far.
Recently, Riclan – a Brazilian chewy candy company – brought out a sugar-free line, while Nugali – Brazil’s first bean-to-bar chocolate brand – also have a host of gluten-free, dairy-free and lactose-free dark chocolates.
The value of Brazil’s sweets and snack exports took a bit of a hit in 2014, taking in $390m as opposed to $441m in 2013, but that seems to have been a blip as growth seems to have returned, with $418m being raked in since 2016.
ABICAb maintain they’re confident that the category export values will continue to grow in the future, and this included chocolate confectionery.
At this moment in time, Brazil is the sixth largest confectionary market in volume, while it is the fifth largest chocolate market in volume in the entire world, so say Euromonitor. The sales of candy and chocolate in Brazil are expected to reach a staggering $8.8bn by 2021.