Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Get in touch with us nowConsumption of chocolate brands in the United States 2024
When it comes to the most widely consumed chocolate brands in the U.S., Hershey’s claims the pole position. The Pennsylvania-based brand is consumed by 57 percent of internet respondents who recognized it, followed by Reese's with a consumption rating of 56 percent.
For this study, brand awareness was surveyed employing the concept of aided brand recognition, showing respondents both the brand's logo and the written brand name. Only respondents who recognized a brand were asked if they consumed the product.
The market for chocolate products in the U.S.
Retail sales of chocolate confectionery in the U.S. amount to a total of almost 25 billion U.S. dollars. The chocolate confectionery category with the highest sales is countlines, which refers to chocolate bars eaten as snacks. Such products generate more than 8.1 billion U.S. dollars annually. Nearly 615 million kilograms of chocolate and chocolate-containing products are imported into the U.S. each year. Canada is the country from which the U.S. imports the majority of its chocolate products, as more than half of the U.S.’ total chocolate product imports come from its North American neighbor. Nonetheless, American companies are also major producers of chocolate-containing products. The leading chocolate producer in terms of sales in the U.S. is the Hershey Company. The Pennsylvania-based multinational confectionery company sells approximately 2.84 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of chocolate products annually.
The Hershey Company
Founded by Milton Hershey in 1894, the Hershey Company has become one of the largest manufacturers of chocolate in North America. Hershey employs 20,505 full-time workers. The revenue of the Hershey Company has been on a steady incline since 2006. The global revenue of Hershey amounts to about 11.17 billion U.S. dollars. The Hershey Company’s brands, Hershey’s and Reese's, are among the leading chocolate and candy bar brands ranked by brand awareness in the U.S. Around 93 percent of consumers are aware of these two brands. The Nestlé-owned brand KitKat, as well as the two brands Snickers and Twix, both owned by Mars Inc., also have a brand recognition rate of 93 percent.
