Top-Selling Sweets

Background graphics by Laurel Daunis-Allen

By Michael Arndt

Top-Selling Sweets

When it comes to candy, Americans are traditionalists. The average age of the top 25 selling candies in the U.S., based on retail sales data from Information Resources Inc. (IRI), is 50 years. Favorite chocolate bars date back even further. Only two—Twix and Dove—were introduced after World War II, with the original Hershey (HSY) bar going back to 1900. That's not to say there's no innovation in candy land. Gum companies have been busy creating new formulations and flavors. In fact, four of the top gums made their debut in the 2000s. Want to know which candy raked in nearly $675 million in annual sales this year? Read on: Here are all 25 favorites, in ascending order.*

* The sales data from IRI, a Chicago-based consumer-market research company, are for the 52 weeks that ended Sept. 6. They encompass supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores, and mass-market retailers, excluding Wal-Mart Stores (WMT).