Kanro lays claim to holding the largest share of the candy market in Japan at 12.5% (as of June 2024), with 2023 sales valued at over JPY30bn (US$194mn).
Some 51.9% of the firm’s business is comprised of hard candy brands, and 45.8% comes from gummy brands including the popular Pure Gummy brand.
“Kanro has seen significant success in the Japanese market since being established back in 1955, and till this date we continue to see growth and target JPY50bn (US$323mn) by 2030,” Kanro President and CEO Tetsuya Murata told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“With hard gummies in Japan, our strategy has always been that a wide portfolio variety is key to conquering the market here – and this has clearly served us well so we continue to maintain this, including the Kanro Ame soy sauce candy that has been around since the start of the company.
“That said, we believe that there is a lot of growth to be found in the gummy category and this can be clearly seen with the rapid growth of the Pure Gummy brand – where gummies used to only be targeted at children, we have expanded focus to the adult market as well and this has helped us clinch the number one gummy spot in Japan too.”
Kanro has a clear range of gummies targeting children such as its Pokemon Pikachu mixed fruit packs, but other higher-range products such as Premium Shine Muscat Sparkling gummies and heart-shaped lemon gummies are more targeted at adult consumers.
“Both gummies and hard candies play an important role in our strategy to target Gen Z consumers via emotional candies,” he added.
“This has become more important than ever in the candy industry because the tough competition means that brands need to have strong connections with consumers to stand out.
“We believe that co-creation with consumers to identify the flavours and candies they want and feel most emotionally-connected to are key for us to increase new consumers to our brands.
“This ties in closely with our pivot to consumer-driven management, which means that we hope to respond to changes in the market by both understanding consumers better and deeper, in order to expand our consumer base.”
Overseas expansion
Kanro’s leading status in Japan and presence in many 100 yen shops has greatly increased its recognition in overseas markets, as many of its products tend to be popular souvenirs amongst tourists.
That said, it faces fierce competition in overseas markets such as South East Asia, where it does have some presence such as in Singapore via NTUC FairPrice, and has limited presence in markets such as China.
“Kanro does not yet have a big presence in China, and we are looking to improve our understanding of this market and its candy demands,” he said.
“We are doing market research in terms of areas such as product fit, packaging design, pricing strategy and more in order to ensure the best chance of success here and that our candies truly meet local needs.”