Confectionery & Snacks

14 February 2023

The Malaysia confectionery market was valued at MYR1.38 billion ($335.2 million) in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 3% during the forecast period.
Key categories in the Malaysia confectionery market are sugar confectionery, chocolate, and gum. Sugar confectionery was the largest category in 2021 in terms of value.
The top cities in the Malaysia confectionery sector are Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching, and Johor Bahru. Kuala Lumpur accounted for the largest confectionery market in Malaysia.
Some of the leading companies in the Malaysia confectionery market are Mondelez International, Inc, Mars, Incorporated, Perfetti Van Melle SpA, Nestlé, Khee San Food Industries Sdn Bhd and Private Label. Mondelez International, Inc, had the largest Malaysia confectionery market share in 2021.
The sales channels in Malaysia include supermarkets and hypermarkets, convenience stores, online retail stores, specialist retailers, vending machines, and other distribution channels.

Within the sugar confectionery industry, the health and wellness trend is expected to encourage consumers to shift from boiled sweets and lollipops to medicated confectionery and standard mints. The category is seen as offering functional benefits such as relieving sore throats.
This has helped medicated confectionery to remain relatively resilient during the COVID-19 crisis.
Sugar confectionery players are expected to diversify the range of products on offer in the category and invest in new product development as they look to respond to rapidly changing market conditions and particular challenges such as the rise in consumer health awareness. The continued development of the health and wellness trend is likely to be an important influence on product innovation, prompting the introduction of limited editions incorporating ingredients with a healthy image such as chia seed and quinoa.
There will likely also be further development of trends towards innovation focused on local Malaysian flavors. e.g. taking inspiration from kuihs in celebration of National Day, Cadbury Malaysia released a limited-edition Cadbury Dairy Milk Pandan Coconut.
Bite-sized and single-serve chocolates are expected to garner increasing popularity. Chocolate pouches and bags are seen as an effective way to limit portion size and meet the growing consumers interest in reducing sugar intake.

Industry revenue in 2022 : US$84.82 billion
Annual growth rate (CAGR 2022 – 2027) : 8.75%
Volume growth: 17,336.0mkg by 2027 (5.0%)
During the pandemic, there was a change in the buying behaviour of consumers. Due to lockdown restrictions and closures of certain retail stores, hypermarkets, and other confectionery stores, consumers preferred e-commerce websites to purchase different products, stockpiling snacks for in-home consumption.

Source: Mordor Intelligence

Source: statistica.com

* Note: sorted in no particular order