For those of you thinking about giving up on Christmas confectionery and handing it over completely to the grocery mults, the advice from the experts is 'think again'. Jonathan Summerley, purchasing director at specialist confectionery cash and carry chain Hancocks, comments: "Competition will always come from the supermarkets for every seasonal event that surely demonstrates the existence of the opportunity if you choose to look positively at the situation."

IRI sales data for the sugar confectionery market across all trade sectors values it at £1.2bn (down 0.8%) for the 52 weeks ending March 27. However, specialist confectionery cash and carry chain Hancocks reports that its sugar confectionery sales have been extremely buoyant in the past 12 months, mainly due to the massive growth of pick 'n' mix as retailers fill the gap left by Woolworths.

Chocolate's been in the news a lot lately with Kraft's bid for Cadbury and the placing of the story so far up the news' lists reflects UK consumers' love of the stuff.

According to research done a few years ago by Pathfinder, car journeys were the single biggest consumption occasion for mints, while Cadbury research carried out last year found that travelling accounts for 21.4% of chewing gum occasions second only to work. What is more, 29% of gum users keep gum supplies in their car. All this is great news for forecourt retailers and you can easily see why mints and gum earn their places so close to the till in so many outlets.

If you are looking for lots of exciting new confectionery lines for this Christmas you're going to be disappointed. There are a few here and there, but mostly manufacturers are sticking to existing products that they know sell well.

Sugar confectionery is one category which is staying sweet despite the recession.

Everyone knows that chewing gum tastes great and minty gums freshen your breath, but it seems there's much more to it than that.

Last Easter was not the best one for retailers and that's because it came really early. Consequently sales were down. However the good news for next Easter is that it's three weeks later with Easter Sunday on April 12. So that gives you 21 extra days to sell chocolate eggs. And despite the credit crunch with consumers watching what they spend, chocolate is a treat that will still be affordable for most people. And it seems that even those watching their waistlines throw caution to the wind at Easter time. Indeed new research commissioned by Mars has found that Easter is the most permissible time of year for eating chocolate.

After looking at the grocery multiples' 'silly prices' on Christmas confectionery last year you might have thought it's 'game over' and decided to give up on the category all together.However, Nestlé UK trade communications manager, Graham Walker, wants you to think again. "Forecourts can win at Christmas because of their convenience and their role as a top-up shop. It's mayhem Christmas week in the multiples so many people will want to avoid them. Instead they'll pick up their last few bits and pieces from their local c-store," he says.

Gums and jellies now account for around 25% of sugar confectionery sales. According to AC Nielsen data, sales increased 4% in the past 12 months, which was slightly ahead of the sugar confectionery market as a whole.

If you haven't updated your chewing gum offer lately, you could be missing out on one of the fastest-growing areas of forecourt sales. That's the message from the two main chewing gum manufacturers who are churning out new and innovative products aimed at capturing consumers' imagination.