Investigating trends in the growing gummy candy market: Gummy candies can improve sleep quality?

First, we will explore changes in the market size of gummy candy and gum based on the number of searches conducted in the last two years.

This research was conducted using VALUES' online behavioral analytics tool "Dockpit," which allows you to analyze competitor’s websites and research trends using behavioral data that is updated monthly, all accessible within your browser.

I'm curious if consumers looking for information on gummy candy and gum both rely on online sources, but if you look it up on Dockpit, you can see that both have around 60,000 to 100,000 people searching for them per month.

Although the number of searches for “gum” sometimes exceeds the number of searches for “gummy candy,” in general, there are more searches for “gummy candy.”

Since the market has already stabilized, the graph is not always in a growing trend, but during the peak period from March to April 2023, more than 100,000 people were searching for gummy candies. It may be because the gummy candy that professional baseball player Yu Darvish gave to his teammate during the WBC (World Baseball Classic tournament), which will be further explained later, influenced this result.

In March 2023, there were nearly 100,000 people searching for gum, just like gummy candies, but this may be due to the news that Meiji, the company that develops the gum brand “XLYISH,” was no longer going to be producing gums by the end of March 2023.

As a matter of fact, Meiji started selling "XYLISH Gummies" in April, which reflects the degree of buzz around the gummy candy market.

What kinds of people are searching for "gummy candy" or "gum"?
Let's take a look at the data from the last year.

Women account for the majority of searches for both gummy candies and gums. Among them, 66.7% of the people searching for gummy candies are women, which is a significantly higher ratio. Because gummy candies tend to have a sweet taste, they may be more appealing to women.

Looking at the ratio of age groups, a big portion of people, for both gummy candy and gum, is in their 30s and 40s. It may be associated with the fact that both can be casually eaten while working.

Next, we investigate how many people are searching for both "gummy candy" and "gum."

Looking at the figure, the overlapping part is only 3.2%, which does not account for many people. There may be people who buy both when shopping at the physical store, but the consumer segment between gummy candy and gum may be very different.

Next, we will search for keywords that were searched in combination with "gummy candy" and "gum" respectively. In other words, “gummy candy”/“gum” + [keyword].

Keywords such as “how to make” and “recipe” occupy the No.1 and No.2 place for gummies, indicating the need to “make it at home.” Gummy candy can be easily made with gelatin, which may be one of the reasons for its popularity. Considering that the percentage of people in their 30s and 40s who searched for “gummy candy” was high, there may be families who want to try making it with their children.

Also, since there are "popular," "recommended," and "ranking," there seems to be a need to compare and purchase various gummy candies.

On the other hand, gum is often searched together with keywords such as “diet” and “effect.” It can be seen that people are looking for something to stimulate the satiety center through chewing to suppress their appetite, wanting to have a smaller face (by exercising their face through chewing), and wanting to enhance concentration, and gum is expected to answer such needs.

In addition to chewing gum, gum seems to include products related to "G・U・M," Japanese oral care company Sunstar’s brand specializing in periodontal disease care.

Next, let's look at the attribute map for “gummy candy.” The attribute map is a bubble plot with gender on the x-axis and age on the y-axis of people searching for the keyword combinations.

What is interesting is the keyword "Darvish" on the upper left quadrant of the attribute map. There is a possibility that there will be more people searching for a person's name if that person is featured in TV commercials or was appointed a brand ambassador, but it seems that this time, that was not the case.

Based on the data, it seems that the "sleep gummies" that professional baseball player Yu Darvish gave to his teammates at the WBC (World Baseball Classic) have become a hot topic. The gummy candy contains melatonin, which is said to promote sleep, and the baseball player who received it from Yu Darvish was able to sleep soundly.

Because there are "sleep" and "melatonin" plotted in the vicinity of “Darvish,” it may have been searched together with "Darvish."

Unfortunately, melatonin is not approved for general sale in Japan, so it is not available for purchase, but CBD, a legal cannabis ingredient that is expected to have a relaxing effect and improve sleep quality, appears on the map.

Like gum, which has been in demand as a health food, there may be an increasing need for gummy candies to have benefits and go beyond being luxury grocery item, consumed for taste or a stimulating effect rather than for nourishment.

In this research, we investigated the trends in the gummy candy market, which continues to grow, while also comparing it to those of gum.

Although few people online consider and search for both gummy candies and chewing gum, the percentage of women searching for both is high, and it seems that there is an increasing need for it as a health food, going beyond its usually role as a luxury grocery item.

In particular, like the sleep gummies that Yu Darvish gave to his teammates at the WBC, if celebrities bring any sort of attention to the product, it popular may grow even more.

▼Data from Dockpit was used in this case study. Dockpit is an online behavior analytics tool provided by VALUES, Inc., and it allows you to access online behavioral data (updated monthly) via your browser so you can research competitor websites and investigate trends. There is a FREE version of Dockpit, so if you are interested in using it, please register below.