From 2013 to 2022, the number of marriages in China dropped from over 10 million to below 7 million, only recovering last year. This decline has impacted the wedding candy industry, with shop owners reporting fewer orders for wedding banquets compared to school banquets. Additionally, attitudes toward sugar have shifted from 'sweet memories' to reducing sugar intake, with typical wedding candy packs shrinking from 28 pieces to 8. However, the industry is fighting back with new flavors and stylish designs to win back young consumers.
Wedding Candy Street, a Bit Cold In April, Nanchang saw continuous rain, and Zigu Street had few pedestrians. When I met Xu Guoling, the 62-year-old owner of a wedding candy shop, she was sitting inside, leaning against a table, cracking sunflower seeds, while wind and rain raged outside. "Another wave of weddings is coming in May, so I can't close the door! People say umbrella sellers hope for rain every day, but we wedding candy sellers hope for sunny days for weddings," Xu said. Behind her were rows of red candies. Zigu Street is Nanchang's famous wedding candy street; 'Zigu' is the courtesy name of Zeng Gong, a Northern Song literary figure from Nanfeng, Jiangxi. During the Nanchang Uprising, Marshal He Long's command post was also located here. In the 1980s, Zigu Street gradually gathered over 20 wedding candy shops, and due to its proximity to the Wanshou Palace cultural site and the presence of provincial opera troupes, the street thrived.
[Image: Nanchang Zigu Street]
Xu's shop has only a rolling shutter door, open in all seasons, and has been operating for over 20 years. She has witnessed the glory of Wedding Candy Street. A neighboring owner once told media that at its peak, daily revenue reached 80,000 yuan, with mothers-in-law buying over a thousand yuan worth of candy. Candy was both face and substance, reflecting Chinese people's drive to improve. "But in the past two years, business has been tough, not like before! Ten or twenty years ago, we couldn't stop working; now we depend on the weather," Xu said. She attributes the decline to three factors: first, the overall drop in marriages, with wedding banquet candy orders sometimes less than school banquet ones; second, the three years of pandemic reduced weddings; third, physical stores can't compete with online shops. Macro data supports this. Jiangxi's high bride price has been proven a rumor, but its marriage rate is indeed low. According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2023, Jiangxi's marriage rate in 2022 was only 4.65%, among the lowest ten provinces, with only 210,000 couples registering, while Guangdong, with the highest rate, had 573,100 marriages. Additionally, younger generations increasingly prefer online shopping for weddings, no longer visiting Wedding Candy Street.
Kuang Jia, born after 1995, married last October. "From wedding dress to wedding candy, everything was bought from e-commerce live streams," she said. Initially, she only bought small decorations for the wedding room online, but as the wedding approached and she got busy, she ended up buying everything online, from invitations and balloons to beddings, dress, and candy. "In the past, when I attended others' weddings, there were always some candies I didn't like in the return gift. Now, I can choose exactly what I want," she added. Even now, her Douyin feed still shows wedding product live streams, as big data witnessed her engagement and marriage. For shop owner Xu Guoling, "E-commerce live streaming has a huge impact. My shop is this big, so I can't stock as many varieties as online stores." She shook her head and continued folding candy boxes. In reality, e-commerce and live streams have taken some offline business, but for the candy industry, offline channels still dominate. According to the 2022 China Snack Food Industry Research Report, offline channels (including snack shops, supermarkets, and convenience stores) account for 83% of total sales, while online channels only 13%, and this applies to candy as well.
[Image: Offline remains an important distribution channel for wedding candy]
Buying candy in physical stores offers visibility, touch, and the ritual of preparing for a happy occasion, with strong purpose. Online purchases are more for daily snacking. Zigu Street in Nanchang is a microcosm of the country, with many wedding candy shops facing similar impacts. So, what exactly has dimmed the prosperity of Wedding Candy Street?
How Chinese Wedding Candy Has Changed The history of Chinese wedding candy might start with Shanghai's White Rabbit, which is the first candy memory for many modern Chinese. In the 1930s, Shanghai businessman Feng Boyong, inspired by British imported toffee, produced the predecessor of White Rabbit candy—'ABC Mickey Mouse candy.' After 1949, White Rabbit became a childhood memory for generations of Shanghainese and a staple in wedding occasions. A folk saying goes: 'If there's no White Rabbit in the wedding candy, the marriage is in vain.' However, the history of Chinese wedding candy has never been a smooth upward curve. Before reform and opening up, even an ordinary candy was a luxury for most Chinese. Many records show that candy was rationed. Eating a candy was a sweet memory for a whole childhood. This was not only due to limited purchasing power but mainly because sugar production was unstable and insufficient. After the 1960s, to support Cuba and supplement the domestic market, China imported Cuban sugar blocks until the 1980s and 1990s; some post-80s may still have snack memories of this sugar.
[Image: Cuban sugar, from the internet]
After reform and opening up, China's sugar production and sales grew rapidly, ranking among the world's top. This prepared the raw materials for wedding candy. Many Chinese candy brands were founded in the 1990s, such as Ma Dajie (Beijing, 1991), Golden Monkey (Shanghai, 1992), Hsu Fu Chi (Taiwan, 1992), Shanghai Ohoo (1995), and Chunguang (Hainan, 1996). Later, newcomers emerged, like Fujian Yake (2002), whose jelly and candy often appear in snack boxes distributed on high-speed trains. With domestic supply and rising incomes, Chinese weddings and other celebrations became more lavish, and wedding candy consumption soared, entering a prosperous era. According to industry data, from 2013 to 2016, about 18-20 million couples married annually, and the wedding candy market size rose from 30.059 billion yuan to about 40 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate over 10%, far higher than the traditional candy market. The number of above-scale wedding candy shops exceeded 22,000. Meanwhile, regional customs for packing wedding candy developed. For example, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, with strong consumption power, are generally considered pioneers of modern wedding candy culture—'one pack per guest, increasingly exquisite.' Data suggests these regions account for 70% of the country's wedding candy shops. In contrast, northern regions have lower consumption but their own characteristics. A 2016 market survey by 'China & Foreign Food Industry' showed that 'hospitable Shandong' favors face-saving large candy gift boxes; Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi use mesh candy bags; and some northeastern areas serve loose candy in large plates on tables.
[Image: Mesh wedding candy bag, a memory for post-80s]
Different candy boxes mean different price points. In the south, each guest receives a small box, costing about 10 yuan each, with 200-300 boxes per wedding, totaling 2,000-3,000 yuan, with some shops earning 40% profit. In the north, like the northeast, a large plate of loose candy per table, for 20-30 tables, costs only a few hundred yuan. These form a rich wedding candy consumption map. But as the new generation's views on marriage change, the latest 'wedding candy consumption changes' have arrived.
First, the decline in marriages reduces wedding candy consumption. From 2013 to 2022, marriages fell from over 10 million to below 7 million. With a conservative estimate of 2,000 yuan per couple's wedding candy, the disappearance of 1 million couples means a loss of 2 billion yuan in consumption, impacting retail terminals like Wedding Candy Street.
Second, attitudes toward sugar have shifted from sweet memories to reducing sugar intake. China Youth Daily reported on three generations of Nanchang residents' wedding candy. Initially, Nanchang wedding candy contained 28 fruit hard candies in red plastic bags; later, 28 became 20 in simple paper boxes; then 20 became 8 in an exquisite hand-carry box. The number remains even for luck, but the quantity has dropped significantly—the older generation saw sugar as a symbol of happiness in poverty, while the young see it as a cause of obesity and poor health. This mindset has affected the candy industry, with both the number of enterprises and revenue declining over the past decade. In short, people spend less on candy, and companies earn less, especially traditional candy companies lacking distinctiveness.
Finally, other snacks are replacing wedding candy pairings. For older generations (including post-80s), their parents were usually the main organizers of weddings. They prioritized dishes, with candy as a mere gift. Taste and health were not top concerns. Boxes typically contained hard candies, soft candies, lollipops, and fruit candies. But for post-90s and post-00s weddings, the new generation puts more thought into DIY (designing packaging and mixing boxes themselves).
[Image: Young people like to control every aspect of their wedding]
Chocolate, jelly, nuts, and cookies—snacks favored by young people—are now entering wedding candy boxes. In first- and second-tier cities, there's a trend toward high-end materials. For chocolate, many prefer overseas brands like Ferrero (Italy), Lindt (Switzerland), Hershey's (US), and Dove (US). For nuts, compared to the older generation's preference for longan, red dates, and peanuts with auspicious meanings, the young prefer cashews, pine nuts, and almonds.
Self-Rescue of the Wedding Candy Industry Many candy companies have seen their business affected in recent years. However, they are not ready to close up shop; instead, they are exploring new paths to adapt. Notably, wedding candy and candy in general are moving closer to what young people like in terms of flavor, design, and nutrition.
Younger Flavors. Traditional wedding candy flavors are often seen as homogeneous—sweet or overly sweet. This doesn't meet the personalized, segmented taste demands of today's youth. In response, the market has introduced trendy new flavors like white peach, cherry blossom, persimmon, mango pomelo sago, and even Tieguanyin tea flavor. Among these, white peach is the most popular. Its taste and aroma are positioned as 'refreshing and light,' attracting many companies to develop such products.
[Image: White peach flavor from overseas to domestic]
For example, Ohoo's 2024 spring festive series features white peach prominently—cloud-like marshmallows and white peach juice soft candies. Japanese brands like UHA and Meito also have popular white peach products. Mango pomelo sago is also gaining attention, defined as this year's 'national trend flavor,' with brands like Golden Monkey and Orion launching products.
Low Sugar, Low Fat, and Health. Traditional wedding candy is equated with sweetness and lack of health benefits. This is changing. As a key pairing, chocolate has been on a sugar-reduction path. For instance, Daily Dark Chocolate promotes 'pure plant-based formula, 0 white sugar.' Additionally, the concept of 'medicine and food homology' is applied to candy development. For example, Gongxiaoshan (Shanghai, founded 2021) launched 'sliced ginseng chocolate,' combining chocolate with freeze-dried ginseng to differentiate. Recently, 'functional candy' has emerged. Golden Monkey's 'Juice Pinch' new product adds vitamin C, enhancing both health and function.
Design and Brand Collaborations. Candy, if well-designed, can become a trendy social and self-pleasure tool. Design includes both the candy itself and the packaging. For the candy, many brands now offer colorful, dopamine-style options; some even shape candies into smiling faces for emotional value.
[Image: Candies are becoming more attractive]
For packaging, some focus on cuteness, others on cool tech. It not only reflects the host's taste but also the thought behind the choice. Many candy products also emphasize cross-industry collaborations. For example, in 2023, Mars partnered with Disney; earlier this year, Golden Monkey's Juice Pinch collaborated with Shanghai Grand Theatre for a custom gift box. Although these candies are not exclusively for the wedding market, as mentioned, young couples like to mix their own wedding candy, so they have a chance to be included.
In summary, it's not just friends in Jiangxi affecting the wedding candy industry. The changes on Zigu Street in Nanchang reflect national shifts in population, marriage rates, and wedding candy consumption habits. But even if the total volume seems to shrink, China remains a populous country with many marriages. There are still opportunities for product innovation and new consumption growth. Many industry insiders are optimistic about the future, and data supports that the candy industry can still grow. Indeed, humans are reducing sugar, but they cannot completely abandon it. Sugar remains an important source of happiness and a companion linked to psychology and quality of life. Chinese people still have a sustained expectation for sweetness.
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