Paul Chibe is a consumer packaged goods vet, working across the industry from snacks to suds.

With six years as CEO of Ferrero USA under his belt and looking back to his early career with Hershey’s acquisition Leaf, Chibe said that there are two consistent things that make the confections industry especially exciting: It’s driven by innovation, and brands are its lifeblood.

He started his career with Leaf in 1991, and he said “what was true back then is true now. Innovation is a fundamental part of the success of the industry, and that’s what’s makes the industry so fun.”

“The other thing that’s remained the same about our industry is it’s driven by brands. A lot of categories outside our industry have changed in that they’ve evolved, and you see the ascent of private label, but that hasn’t happened in confections. People go for brands; their emotional connection is the brands. They’re the lifeblood of the category, and that’s true for the small companies and for our big companies,” Chibe said.

Chibe became chairman of the National Confectioners Association on March 10 following time as vice-chair and succeeding departing chair Kirk Vashaw, chairman and CEO of Spangler Candy Company.

For the next two years, Chibe will lead the 550-plus member association, which together have 1,300 manufacturing facilities nationwide. According to the NCA, the industry creates 607,000 jobs in the U.S., with more than 187,000 employed by the industry directly and 420,000 employed by suppliers and others.

New Jersey confections companies have a $2 billion economic output and pay $420 million in wages. More than 8,000 people statewide are employed by the industry, and 25,000 others work in industry-supporting jobs like agriculture and transportation. This includes large companies, like Ferrero USA in Parsippany and Mars Wrigley Confectionery in Hackettstown, and small legacy outfits like Smarties Cady Co. in Union and Koppers Chocolate in Cranford.

“One of the things I think that’s really successful and unique about confections is the family orientation of the industry. There’s a lot of legacy generational family-owned companies, very representative of an American success story…where these people have had very nice businesses, passed on from generation to generation,” Chibe said. “And then you also have the entrepreneurs, people who are new who…are starting companies and amazingly successful as well.”

As an industry, Chibe said, confections will play an instrumental role in economic recovery post-pandemic.

“The industry is very recession resilient. Where other categories might have bigger swings depending on the economic situation, as a general rule, the confections industry may soften but it’s not necessarily even devastated by economic downturn,” Chibe said.

Part of the reason: In times of need, people turn to the boost they get from a sweet treat.

“When you turn it to now, we know that with COVID, we’ve heard of the mental duress that comes from being separated, being alone, being isolated…It puts stress on people. People were looking for these little moments to treat themselves, and have a respite, and confectionary fits that need,” Chibe said.

As NCA chairman, Chibe will lead the trade group as it experiences and works to address industry-effecting policies, like the outdated U.S. Sugar Program, tariffs like those recently suspended between the U.S. and E.U., and practical regulation.

While sin taxes in various states aim to shed a dark light on sweets, Chibe is quick to say that candy is—and always was—a treat. Not a meal replacement, not a meal, not a substitute for your fruits and veggies.

“That’s [important] because as we’ve looked at consumer behavior, there are some things that really rise and become front and center. In terms of consumer behavior, people do moderate their consumption of confectionary…and that’s why, over the last 40 years, confectionary has remained about 2% of calories for people. If you think about other categories, they’ve had their percent of calories of the American diet go up a bit because portion sizes have increased and offering sizes have increased,” Chibe said.

Candy offerings, he noted, have stayed about the same size for the last 40 or 50 years.

“There’s no divine mystery, sugar is in candy. It’s why when you’re seven years old, you have to ask your mom if you can have a piece of candy. We think it’s important to…build on that to consumers, to D.C., to the state government, to NGOs – look at how confectionary is acted, look at how it’s part of the American diet, look at the responsibility that has been displayed over the last 40 years with portion sizes. You see it’s stayed the same,” he said.

NCA has a program with Partnership For A Healthier America, a non-profit organization created in conjunction with Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, and by 2022, NCA member companies will voluntarily print calorie information on the front of products and make at least half of their single-serving products 200 calories or less. Many of them already do.