2024 Volume 20 Pages 15-26
During the period of high economic growth, Japanese society, including its lifestyle and food culture, underwent major changes, impacting the consumption of confectionery. It promoted confectionery manufacturers to develop new products and changed the market of the confectionery industry, leading to changes in the industry structure. This study focuses on the period of high economic growth up to 1985. The study aims to examine the confectionery consumption trends and the changes in the confectionery market, including those in the related to market sales, against the background of changes in tastes influenced by distribution, lifestyle, and food culture.
The household budget survey was first classified into Western and Japanese confectionery based on quantitative data, and their consumption trends were analyzed from a macro perspective. Several target items were selected and the relationship between them and changes in distribution were examined. Then, we conducted a qualitative analysis based on the company history and materials of each manufacturer in the confectionery industry and investigated the marketing changes in the confectionery industry.
The results revealed that the confectionery industry experienced an increase in the quantity and quality of Western confectionery against the backdrop of the high economic growth in Japan. The composition ratio of Japanese and Western confectionery reversed in 1976, with the consumers’ tastes becoming Westernized and the expansion in the confectionery market.
In November 1985, the All Nippon Kashi Association was established to unite the confectionery industry to deal with the major challenges associated with trade liberalization. This was a symbolic event that marked a change in the structure of the confectionery industry.
