U.S. Chocolate Connoisseurs Focus on Domestic Brands

While the upcoming Easter weekend, Christmas, Halloween or Valentine's Day may be the most important events for chocolate and candy producers in the U.S., sweet treats are consumed year-round, albeit at a lower volume. When it comes not to the when but the what, U.S. consumers tend to look to domestic producers, even though chocolate has long become a multinational affair.

A recent survey from our Statista Consumer Insights shows that six of the eight brands consumed by the highest share of respondents in the United States had an American parent company. Hershey's and Reese's, which came out on top with 52 and 50 percent, respectively, are owned by The Hershey Company. The situation of KitKat, which comes in fourth with 44 percent of respondents having consumed the chocolate bar in the past twelve months, is a bit more complicated. Although it's licensed by The Hershey Company in the U.S., the brand is owned and distributed in every other country by Nestlé, which is why the infographic shows the Swiss multinational food conglomerate as its parent company.

A former Nestlé brand, Butterfinger, ranks sixth with 32 percent. In 2018, Italian chocolate and confectionery producer Ferrero bought the rights to the chocolate bar from its former owner along with more than twenty other U.S. brands and folded them into its Ferrero North America branch.

With Snickers, Twix, 3 Musketeers and Dove, the case is clearer. All four brands belong to Mars, Incorporated. Like Nestlé, Mars isn't active only in the chocolate business, but also produces jarred pasta sauce, chewing gum and dog food.

According to Statista Market Insights estimates, the worldwide confectionery market including chocolate, ice cream, preserved pastry goods and cakes as well as sugar confectionery generated $1.1 trillion in 2023 and will reach a market volume of $1.5 trillion in 2028. Chocolate confectionery alone contributed around $240 billion this past year. In 2024, the United States ($55 billion), Indonesia ($24 billion) and Japan ($22 billion) will have the biggest shares in terms of revenue from chocolate confectionery.