Consumers in Japan are notoriously fickle and constantly in search of the next greatest product - and for a nation that takes its food very seriously, that applies doubly to the confectionery sector. Sales of ice cream have been strong in recent years and continue to grow, although chocolate confectionery sales equated to €2.5bn in 2013, a minor contraction on the previous year - blamed on poor weather during the traditionally busy summer months. Looking to the future, market watchers warn that a more intractable problem will be a shrinking and ageing population, with fewer youngsters in the average Japanese family.
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