February 2026 Issue

Welcome to the February issue of International Confectionery Magazine. As the year gathers momentum, the global confectionery sector finds itself navigating a familiar but increasingly complex balancing act: preserving craft and indulgence while responding to mounting pressures around health, sustainability, cost and regulation.

In our Innovator feature, Redefining Indulgence. Michiel van der Bom, Global Category Director for Chocolate at Cargill, explores how “resilient indulgence” is shaping modern chocolate development. 

Health and reformulation take centre stage in our Application feature, From Niche to Necessity, where we examine the technical realities of producing sugar-free chocolate, hard candy and soft confectionery. 

Packaging also plays a critical role in this equation. In Wrapped for Success, Managing Editor Rebecca Spayne explores how foil and paper-based flexible packaging continue to strike a careful balance between performance, sustainability and visual appeal – proving that innovation doesn’t always mean abandoning established materials, but rethinking how they are used. 

Ingredients remain a cornerstone of reformulation, and in A Sweeter Selection, we return to the topic of sugar reduction from an ingredient perspective, exploring how natural sweeteners and substitutes are helping manufacturers cut sugar while maintaining texture, indulgence and – crucially – consumer trust. 

We also reflect on the latest industry activity with a look back at ProSweets and ISM, before closing with Sweet Talk, where we get to know Hans Brunner’s Markus Gebhar on a more personal level.