go for nostalgic adults

Fashions fluctuate, just like prices or supply and demand curves, but there is one value that is always rising in the market (no matter which one): nostalgia. As we get older, we increasingly value items and experiences that allow us to relive our childhood, which creates a huge business opportunity. It is something that the industry tech or of entertainment has understood well, is driving the creation of arcade rooms and, in general, has converted the “retro” into a valuable asset.

Now that desire to relive past times is favoring an unexpected business: that of the sweets.

Who eats sweets? The question seems obvious. Sweets are something for children and teenagers, right? Those of us who are between 30 and 40 years old today grew up in a world in which those who went to kiosks to buy gum, candy and other industrial sweets were basically kids.

There might be some bigger fans of licorice, mint candies or toffees, for example, but they were the exception. Things today are somewhat different. It is no longer just that adults buy sweets without embarrassment, it is that in some stores they are the majority customer profile and even represent 80% of the business, as revealed a few weeks ago The Confidential in an extensive report in which he analyzes the phenomenon.

Is it a novelty? Yes. And no. that the millennials and members of Generation X still eating sweets into adulthood is not exactly new. In 2004, the Spanish Association of Candy and Chewing Gum Manufacturers (Caychi) already published a study which showed that more than half of the country’s adults regularly ate candy, gum and other sweets. About 70% He also admitted that he did it simply because it was considered “a pleasure”, an experience with “a positive effect on well-being”.

At that time, however, the ‘photo’ was still somewhat diffuse. Although in the group between 46 and 55 years old, 50.4% of people stated that they consumed candy with some frequency and 34.4% also chewed gum often, the survey presented their consumption with a certain utilitarian perspective: “many” indulged in sweets, it was said thento avoid other unhealthy vices, such as smoking.

And now? Now the reality is somewhat different. In his chronicle The Confidential He speaks with companies and representatives of the candy sector who clarify that adults demand their merchandise for an added reason: nostalgia. Maybe they like the taste of sticks, worms, dextrose necklaces, Peta Zetas and heart-shaped lollipops, but for them their consumption incorporates an equally or even more valuable bonus: memories. It is merchandise of 2026, but also a ‘passport’ to evoke the decade of the 80s and 90s.

There are even businesses dedicated to sweets whose turnover basically depends on people who already have gray hair. “Normally people think they are for children, but if we depended on them we would have to close,” recognize the commercial head of a Galician company in the sector who estimates that around 80% of his clientele is made up of adults. Your case is not unique. Other companies in the industry confirm the increase in demand for retro gummies, both in the retail channel and among businesses that, in turn, use them in dishes that incorporate ingredients such as Peta Zetas or cotton candy.

Is there data to support it? The trend can be followed in two ways. One is the testimonies that are shared from the sector and confirm the change. Others are the statistics on domestic consumption of the Ministry of Food, which they confirm that the consumption of sweets is especially pronounced in households made up of adults between 45 and 65 years old who live alone. Those where young adults and couples without children reside also stand out.

The statistics of the Government on domestic consumption show that, at least in November 2025, the per capita consumption of candy, chewing gum and sweets was around the 0.77 kg and, in general, the volume consumed had grown by 6.9%.

In October the Produlce employers’ association I remembered that the candy and gum category is the one that grows the most in the sweet sector, with a production that was around 1,500 million euros and 311,000 tons. Against that backdrop, nostalgia-driven sales have found especially fertile ground on the Internet and networks. There you can often find items that are difficult to see in kiosks or the supermarket. In fact, there are websites specialized in that niche, such as Retro candy either Xianaand on Amazon you can also find them searching by categories such as retro sweets.

Does nostalgia weigh that much? Not all sales among the adult population are explained by nostalgia, but it is undeniable that this factor has an important weight. It is assumed by Produlce himself, who points out that the fact that “many adults today return to the sweets of their childhood demonstrates the extent to which we are talking about products with strong emotional and cultural roots.”

In Retrochuches in fact the catalog of jelly beans is combined with another toy from the 80s and 90s, such as four-in-a-row games, cardboard masks, spinning tops, Tetris machines, marbles, dolls trolls or plastic pendants in the shape of a pacifier, among a long etcetera.

Is it something exceptional? No. It’s nothing strange. Nor exclusive to the world of snacks and sweets. The “nostalgia economy” It has reached other sectors, such as fashion, technology and entertainment, focusing its efforts on an audience with greater purchasing power than younger customers. As they explain From some companies in the sector, it is not so much that adults buy more as that they can spend much more money.

In the process, nostalgia for the past works some miracles, such as making Generation Z embrace retro technologies that in reality are totally new to her (those who are in their twenties today have never enjoyed games that today are presented to them as ‘vintage’) or that the candy industry finds a new niche despite the periodic campaigns in favor of healthy eating or more and more people Try to reduce your sugar consumption.

Images | Aleksi Partanen (Unsplash) and Ilanit Ohana (Unsplash)

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