Yatco’s Thomas Shares Candy Category Growth Strategies and Consumer Trends

Yatco's category strategy emphasizes aggressive pricing, targeted promotions and innovative candy products to drive sales.

In 2026, the typical candy consumer is demanding more from convenience store retailers when it comes to new and innovative flavors, limited-time offers (LTOs) and products with functional benefits. Managing these evolving preferences as inflation continues to tighten wallets across the country is no small feat.

However as retailers and consumers continue to feel the inflationary pressures, candy, gum and mints are holding strong in the c-store space and even showing signs of growth. While health-conscious eating habits have raised questions about candy demand in recent years, c-store shoppers continue to make room for sweet treats.

CStore Decisions recently caught up with Walter Thomas, category manager at Northborough, Mass.-based Yatco, which operates 23 c-store locations, to hear more about how their candy category is performing.

CStore Decisions (CSD): How would you describe the overall performance of candy, gum and mints in your stores so far this year?

Walter Thomas (WT): This year, we’ve been able to drive some record performance within the category. We recently had business reviews with both our Hershey and Mars reps, and those conversations validated a lot of what we’ve been seeing. It’s always good to see the numbers back up the strategies we’ve put in place.

(CSD) Which segments are performing best for you right now — chocolate, non-chocolate, gum or mints? What’s driving that performance?

(WT): Right now, we’re seeing significant growth in both chocolate and fruity confections, while gum and mints have seen a slight decline. We understand that’s a little contrary to what the rest of the industry is seeing, but I think a lot of it goes back to the strategy we put in place last year. We were very aggressive with our pricing within the market, and we were thoughtful about how we planned our promotions and sales periods throughout the year. That really helped us drive the business.

One of the key learnings from our recent business reviews was that we have an opportunity to expand our gum and mint sections and regain some market share there. We’ve always valued the insights we get from our business partners. Sometimes those conversations validate what we’re doing, and sometimes they show us where we have an opportunity to get better.

(WT): Our customers are price-sensitive. We know they’re looking at our stores closely and comparing us to other places they shop. Certain prices, especially on the biggest brands, are going to stick out to them.

We believe that if we can deliver value on the brands they know and shop the most, that value carries over to how they perceive the rest of our store. We want our guests to look at Yatco as a place that’s easy to shop and offers a good value. At the end of the day, we want them to feel like their dollar goes a little farther when they shop with us.

(WT): Absolutely. We’re transforming the category to meet their needs. First, we’ve installed new peg-bag pushers in most of our stores, and that has really changed the way our sets look. It gives us more flexibility to move items around quickly, react to new products and trends and keep the section looking full.

The other thing we’re seeing is that younger customers are looking for more than just something sweet. They’re looking for an experience. One of our highest-selling new items this year was the Musical Lollipop from Amos. It’s fun, it’s different and it gives the customer something beyond just the candy itself.

We also put a lot of focus behind Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters. That product brings a multi-textural experience that seems to connect with both kids and adults. I think that’s something we’re going to continue to see — flavor still matters, but texture, interaction and just having something fun and different are becoming a much bigger part of the category.

(CSD): How have higher candy prices, particularly in chocolate, affected consumer purchasing behavior? Have you adjusted your assortment or pack sizes in response?

(WT): We tried to stay ahead of the pricing. When some of the larger price increases happened last year, we made the decision to stay aggressive. On some of the major bars, we were as much as 40 cents lower than others in our market.

It was a bold strategy, and we feel like it really paid off for us. We may have given up a little bit of margin on each bar, but we picked it back up in a big way through volume.

More importantly, I think it helped build that perception of value with our customers. They may not remember the price of every item in the store, but they know what a Hershey bar or a Snickers costs. Those are the prices that can help shape how they feel about your store overall.

(WT): Aggressive pricing and suggestive selling. Every month, we pick two or three items that we really want to get behind. There’s always a little debate within our merchandise team over whose item gets to make that list, but that’s part of the fun. We have a category team that’s passionate about merchandising, and we don’t have to work very hard to show it. That excitement translates pretty quickly down to the store level.

We share results often, recognize the stores that are doing well and celebrate the wins. That creates some friendly competition between the stores and keeps people engaged. When the stores start having fun with an item, you can really see it in the results.

(WT): I think pricing is going to continue to be the biggest obstacle we have to overcome. At some point, customers will probably start accepting some of these higher prices as the new normal. But I also think we could be approaching a lull where consumers start saying, “That’s enough.”

Chocolate, fruity confections, gum and mints are always going to have a place in convenience. The question is how we continue delivering value as the cost of making these products keeps going up.

I think there’s a real opportunity for the manufacturers here. The first vendor that figures out how to break through some of these high production costs and bring meaningful value back to the consumer is going to have a big advantage.

Innovation is great, and customers absolutely want new products. But right now, I think some of the most meaningful innovation could simply be figuring out how to give the customer a great product at a price they feel good about again.