How to Start a Confectionery Business – Step by Step Guide

Confectionery business deals with the production of food items rich in sugar and carbohydrates. In general, confectionery can be derived into two parts: bakers’ confections and sugar confections.
Bakers’ confectionery, also called flour confections.
Sugar confectionery encompasses any sweet confection, including Hard candies, lollipops, Taffy, Chewing Gum, Bubble gum, Chocolates, Caramels, marshmallow, and Gummy candies. The words candy(the US and Canada), sweets (UK and Ireland), and lollies (Australia and New Zealand) are common words for the most common varieties of sugar confectionery. Chocolatiers and Candy Makers are both called confectioners.

There’re plenty of sweets brands, Chocolate brands in the World, every country has its own famous brands, so which candy makers were in the Top 10:

You can find your local candy giants. Check their candy range, what’re their main candy products.

Let’s see the candy industry statistics first. The global sugar confectionery market is projected to reach $69.5 billion by 2026, according to new data published by Polaris Market Research.

Sugar Confectionery Market

Sugar Confectionery Market Scope

 Is there any way to check a specific country for sugar confectionery import & export data? The answer is yes, let’s take the USA as an example ①:

USA Import and Export data for sugar confectionery during 2015~2019

 So Which are the Top10 countries exporting Sugar confectionery to the USA?

USA Import data for sugar confectionery top 10 countries in 2019

USA Import data for sugar confectionery from China

 What we can see from the data?

• Sugar confectionery imports trade value 3~4 times than export trade value. The USA local sugar confectionery manufacturer can not satisfy damestic market demands.
• The whole trade value growth with stability.
• The import of candy productions from other countries must have tax, but if you import or buy raw materials, the tax must be lower.

Conclusion: You have plenty of chances in this field if you start your own confectionery business.

Let’s take the Spain as an example ②:

Spain Import and Export data for sugar confectionery during 2015~2019

Spain Export data for sugar confectionery to the Wrold

Spain Import data for sugar confectionery top 10 countries in 2019

Spain Import data for sugar confectionery from China

 What we can see from the data?

• The whole Sugar confectionery trade value growth with stability.
• The import from France, Germany, Netherlands, which means high-quality demands.
• More and more exporting values from Spain to other countries.

Conclusion: You have a chance in this field, consider starting from high-quality sweets for Spain domestic market and exporting to the world.

HS commodity codes: 1704 means sugar confectionery (including white chocolate), not containing cocoa.

If you want to know your country Macro data about import & export data for Sugar confectionery, Call Angela WhatsApp/Wechat: +86-13681118297, Email: [email protected]

You must know your country’s giant candy brands. You can take 2 brands for study.
Make a comparison like the following table:

Let’s see an example: Thailand brand aaaa

Main material: Sugar, Glucose syrup, sweetener, etc
Packaging types: small pouch bags
Individual pillow bag for each piece
Weight: 28g, 10pieces

When you make a deep survey, you will find the rules for your own sugar confectionery market.
1. What’s the most popular candy in your market.

2. What’s the candy main ingredients.
3. What’re the main candy packaging types, chocolate packaging types in the Market.

Understanding the market and consumer trends is vital for any business, and the confectionery one is no different. To find the Growth is thus dependent on a careful analysis of the market, consumer insights, and trends. Develop your lastest formula, shapes, tastes, then you can get the latest bonus.
For instance, there’s a new cartoon showing on the TV, and it’s doing successful, then find a way to get the authorization paper for making its shapes, then you can make new molds as per the shapes. Maximize the promotion for your new product, not only strengthen branding, but also a great way to promote all your candy products.
If you want to know the confectionery industry website from Angela. call at Whatsapp: +86-13681118297

According to your local market research, You must have an idea about which type of candy you want to make, check the candy raw materials cost analysis.

Step 1: Let’s take an simple hard candy formula / lollipop formula as an example:

Sugar：90kg
Liquid glucose：90kg
Water:30KG
Color\ flavor\ acid: appropriate

Step 2: Checking following raw materials cost with relevant suppliers.

For hard candy and lollipop, the final product water contect is 2%.
Every 100kg mixed sugar+glucose will add 3g color + 500g flavor.

Conclusion:

Total product: 2050KG hard candy/lollipop cost US$1962.4.
each 500g hard candy Or lollipopo cost you US$0.957.
Make your own raw materials cost analysis now.

Supply is a crucial part of any confectionery business. For your sweets business, you should know your supply chains like this:

You can use Xmind software to make a diagram like this, and manager each supplier name, contact person, etc.

As individual people, we’re not all compatible and the same principle for business. Even you have established a good cooperative relationship with your Cooperation partner, but your supplier does not, it may bring you unsatisfactory consequences. It’s a high risk for your long-term business running, good relationships depend in part on picking the right people.

So how to choose the right confectionery machinery supplier? Obviously, It’s the main sector for your whole confectionery business project, a qualified confectionery machinery will minimize your shut-down time, help you deliver candies to your customers in time, bring the same tasted candies to the final consumers, maintain your company reputationally, boom your confectionery business.

Here’s a scoring table you can use, make a comparison for each supplier, and mark them from different dimensionality. So you can choose the right confectionery machinery supplier with data, not by sensibility.

◎ Experience in a similar project, a good confectionery machine manufacturer will optimize the machinery during past projects, they know where will bring problems, how to avoid it. which will minimize your worries about unpredictable problems for you.

◎ The professional supplier will help you understand the confectionery machinery working principle, the macro-view, mircor-view about the whole confectionery industry.

◎ A good sales will bring you smooth communication during the whole project. save your valuable time. Good sales will responsible for your project, give you suggestions with their experience, let you avoid troubles, speed up your project in a healthy way.

◎ Prompt response is important, no machine will use for a lifetime with 0 issues, but when you face problems, the supplier revert you in time and solve it at the earliest, they also a “partner” for your factory, for your brand.

◎ Certificates, like CE, ISO9001, Patent, etc. Let the third party make a primary selection for you.

◎ Automation degree, check with the supplier, how many workers needed for the complete line. You should know the machine automation degree. For fully automatic, the investment of the machine must be high, save your workers’ salary. For semi-auto or manual working machinery, it must be lower your machine investment, but you should expenditure more on workers’ salaries. So you should make the balance by yourself.

◎ Machines’ durability, Everyone should be admitted Germany machine is a high standard with a matched price. Germany machines you may use for 100 years. If your budget is limited, but you can find machines that can be used for 15~20 years. You can calculate each year’s cost.
In this fast-changing market, you may expand your running project, or enlarge your business range to other candies, chocolates. So it won’t be a big challenge for you.
Seeing is believing, make a field inspection to meet the supplier you selected, to see their machines by your own eyes.

◎ Industry reputation, make some research to the supplier you prefer. what’s the evaluation form their old customer? Does their peer know them? Which exhibition they will attend?

◎ Payment terms, Usually for machinery suppliers in China, will ask 30~40% as a down payment. others you can discuss with the supplier.

A logical layout-design shall include the following parts:

• Confectionery Production line area
• Packaging area
• Raw material storage area
• Candy product warehouse
• Drying room (If you make Gummy candy or Marshmallows)
• Steam boiler (If your line is with capacity over 300kgs/h)
• Bathroom
• Office

You can make a drawing of your plant, tell your confectionery machinery supplier where is the door, lift, stairs, posts, etc.

The designed layout will be like this:

In China market, most confectionery machinery will be customized, here’re some common payment terms:

• 30% by T/T in advance, 70% by T/T before shipping (testing successfully before shipping).
• 40% by T/T in advance, 60% by T/T before shipping (testing successfully before shipping).
• Irrevocable LC (Like Bangladesh, Algeria only accept 100%LC; Sri Lanka, Madagascar allowed parts T/T, Parts LC if the amount over a detailed amount)
• Some special huge project will be 30% by T/T in advance, 20% by T/T in the middle of the whole manufacturing schedule, 50% by T/T before shipping.

And for other relevant suppliers, you can check and mark for overall control, and talk with them to find both agreed payment terms.

If you are a green hand in the confectionery industry, installation and training services from the confectionery machinery supplier will help you to know the machines in the fastest way, and help you to avoid some unnecessary mistakes when operating.

You can take iSweetech aftersales services for your reference:

Aftersales Services

• Free layout design as per your plant area.
• Free assembling and installation.
• Free trial-production and local team training for how to operate the equipment.
• Free candy recipes.
• Lifetime services.
• The buyer needs to pay US$100/day/person for the technician as the salary. The expense for the round-way air tickets, the board and lodging, local transportation of our technicians during their stay at the factory are at the buyer’s cost.

Guarantee

• 12 months guarantee since the date of a successful installation.
• The seller will supply the 2 years spares for free together with the confectionery machinery.
• During the warranty period, any problems/defaults happen on the hard parts of the confectionery machinery, the seller will replace the parts or send the technicians to go to the buyer’s site for repairing and maintenance the machines at free. If the defaults are aroused by the defaulted operations of the buyer, or the buyer needs the technical assistance for the further problems aroused(after the 1st FREE installation), the buyer should be responsible for all our technician’s service cost and their allowance.

Healthy supplier relationships are that you can gain better value for your business. you need a reliable supplier, swift response when you have problems. And your suppliers also need regular, reliable customers, as repeat orders give them stability.

So, good and effective communication will lower the risk between your two parties, and shorten your future expansion plans, boom your confectionery business.

Good management is the key to success and good management starts with setting goals. What you want to see in the next three months, six months, one year, three years. Break major goals into sub-goals. Setting detailed dates with each sub-goals, write down detailed tasks OR steps to achieve each sub-goals. Through the list, you will know how to do better. Do not set arduous tasks at first. Do it step by step.