Much like CBD, Delta 8 THC, and other hemp-derived products, the gummy market has exploded across the United States and the rest of the world. In this article, we will explore some of the basics of the types of gummies that are available, the reasons for the huge increase in sales, the demographic of who is buying these gummies, and other key factors that you need to understand.

What Is Considered a “Gummy”?

First, let’s define exactly what a gummy is to avoid confusion. For this article, a gummy is any supplement, vitamin, hemp-derived product, or other types of product produced as a gummy. These gummies have a gel-like texture that makes them easy to bite and chew. A large percentage of gummies are flavored and come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. They are produced by combining the base supplement (vitamin, CBD, etc.) with a flavoring and gelatin to give them their firm, gel-like look and feel. For the vegan market, gelatin is substituted for pectin and other ingredients to create a gel-like look and feel using non-animal-based products. 

Types of Gummies Available

The increase in demand for this product style has caused just about every supplement manufacturer to produce their product in a gummy form. There are now:

  • Gummy candies
  • Gummy vitamins
  • Gummy mineral supplements
  • Gummy CBD and other hemp-derived products
  • Gummy marijuana products
  • Protein gummies
  • Omega fatty acid gummies
  • D-Mannose gummies (to treat women’s urinary tract infections)

You can find these gummies in a limitless array of flavors like peach, watermelon, sour apple, cherry, orange, and grape, just to name a few. You also can find them in a multitude of shapes, such as: 

  • Drops
  • Cherry clusters
  • Wedges
  • Bears
  • Slices
  • Worms

Many of these products add other beneficial ingredients like melatonin or curcumin to their base product if that is not enough. For example, CBD gummies may contain melatonin to promote sleep or contain curcumin for its wellness benefits.

Reasons for the Sales Increase of Gummies

Marketing reports point to several contributing factors to the rapidly increasing demand for gummies. 

Vitamins

One factor pointed to is the acceleration in demand for vitamins. There has been an increase in the working-class population whose lifestyle and diet have not kept up with nutritional demands. Therefore, the vitamin segment of the gummy market led the way with a 55% revenue share of the entire market in 2020. 

Other factors that explain the increase in vitamin gummy sales were an increased aging population and raised awareness about nutrition. The introduction of gummy vitamins for children in fun shapes and flavors has found an entire generation of devotees who would be resistant to other forms of vitamins. Parents’ increasing willingness to spend more money on their children’s health has contributed to this demand.

COVID-19

The COVID outbreak has also been acknowledged as a contributing factor to the sales increase of vitamins and other health supplements over the past couple of years. Many Americans sought to increase their immune systems through gummies that claimed immunity support elements such as elderberry or zinc. 

CBD

The awareness of and desire for holistic alternatives has also increased gummy sales. One of these holistic alternatives that have taken the market by storm is cannabidiol (CBD). This substance just became legal in 2018 with the signing of The Farm Bill. This bill made hemp-derived products federally legal to manufacture and sell throughout the U.S. if the Delta 9 THC content did not exceed 0.3%. Since that legalization, consumers have become better educated about CBD and other cannabinoid products and have set off a firestorm of sales of these products in their gummy form.

Gummies Are an Alternative to Capsules and Tablets

Gummies are a preferred alternative for many people over capsules or tablets for many reasons. The first is the fact that many have difficulty swallowing pills. Allied Marketing Analysis (AMR) has reported that 38% of American adults have trouble swallowing pills. Gummies provide an alternative because they are just as portable and convenient as tablets and capsules, yet they are easy to chew and swallow.

The second way that gummies are favorable over capsules or tablets is that you can easily decrease your intake by simply biting into only the amount of gummy needed. For example, many who use Delta 8 THC or other hemp-derived products may not desire a full dose of the substance. Having the Delta 8 THC in a gummy form allows the user to only bite into ½ or ⅓ of the gummy to control the dosage. This is not an option available with softgels and is a challenge with tablets or capsules.

But likely just as important as the first two reasons cited is that gummies are just plain fun. The flavor of the gummy and the enjoyable experience of chewing a gummy have caused this type of item to be demanded by a wide range of people. Instead of feeling like you are taking your medicine, gummies make the consumer feel like they are enjoying a sweet treat. And while most gummies contain sugar or some other sweetener, there are options available that are sweetened with fruit juices and other non-sugar alternatives. 

The Market for Gummies

We polled several sources, and all of them point to the same conclusion: the market for gummies is increasing at an impressive rate and will continue to do so in the next few years. Here is, specifically, what each source had to say about CBD and vitamin gummy sales.

CBD Gummies

According to Fact.MR, when analyzing the popularity of gummies based on the concentration level, low concentration CBD gummies accounted for approximately 90% of the overall CBD gummy revenue. This was attributed to the fact that many first-time users were wary of side effects, so they preferred gummies that carried between 1 milligram and 20 milligrams of CBD per gummy. However, they do see increasing demand for high concentration CBD gummies (over 20 milligrams). This is attributed to two factors:

  1. Consumers who were originally on low-dose CBD gummies are no longer concerned with side effects and are now switching to higher concentration CBD gummies.
  2. Consumers, in general, are becoming better educated about the wellness benefits of CBD and are, therefore, trying the higher concentrations to manage certain conditions.

Fact.MR reported a skyrocketing exponential compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% from 2016 to 2020 for CBD gummies. Furthermore, they predict an even higher CAGR of 34.7% for high concentration CBD gummies between 2021 and 2028.

Overall, Fact.MR believes that the increased urgency to legalize cannabis for recreation and medical purposes will drive the market to expand 11.3x from 2021 to 2031. This would reflect a 28% CAGR for the CBD market for that time.

Grand View Research sees a large increase in the CBD gummy market. They report that brick-and-mortar stores were the largest distributors of CBD gummies and that 56.4% of sales were through offline distribution channels through 2020. However, they admit that the closing of many retail outlets due to the COVID pandemic has greatly reduced that number.

North America holds the largest share of CBD gummy sales in the global marketplace at 62.0%. Globally, they expect the CBD gummy market to expand to 13.9 billion by 2028. This would reflect an expected CAGR of 30.7% from 2021 to 2028.

Vitamin Gummies 

PR Newswire reports that the global gummy market size reached 1.68 billion USD in 2020. They expect a CAGR of 4.5% between 2021 and 2027, which would bring the total global market to 2.29 billion USD as of 2027.

Because of the increasing availability of multi-vitamins, they expect this segment to be the most lucrative, with children’s multi-vitamin gummies accounting for the largest share of that trend. Like CBD gummies, North America holds the largest market for vitamin gummies at 65%, followed by China and Europe. The top three gummy vitamin manufacturers, Church & Dwight Co, Bayer, and Pharmavite, hold an overall 30% share of this market.

Based on statistics gathered by Allied Market Research, they expect the gummy vitamins market to reach $9.3 billion by 2026. This number is based on the $5.7 billion market size in 2018, with a CAGR of 6.5% from 2019 to 2026. They, too, see the multivitamin segment dominating the sales of gummy vitamins. Allied also expects the prebiotic gummy segment to return an impressive CAGR of 8% between 2019 and 2026. During that same period, they expect the children’s market section to grow at an 8% CAGR, with online sales increasing to an 8.4% CAGR.

Fact.MR has also weighed in on the gummy vitamins market. They project that the market will grow at 5.9% CAGR from 2021 through 2031. They claim that global sales for gummy vitamins will reach $3.71 billion in U.S. dollars by the end of 2021. Because of this starting point and growth rate show an additional $2.5 billion being added to sales by 2031.

Fact.MR sees a big opportunity to add new clients due to the availability of vegan and sugar-free options. This will bring health-conscious individuals and children with weight or diabetes issues into the fold. North America still holds the largest share of this segment, accounting for more than 25% of the market in terms of value.

Other observances that Fact.MR makes to support their estimates that multivitamins are a popular dietary supplement as more than one-third of Americans take them. In total, multivitamins account for one-sixth of all dietary supplement sales and 40% of vitamin and mineral supplement sales. Moreover, they expect gummy multivitamins to hold a prominent share of the multivitamin market by over 50% through 2031.

Conclusion

Through every report we assessed, gummies will be an ever-increasing segment of the hemp-derived market. They have all of the convenience of softgels, yet they give the user the ability to adjust their dosage by biting into a smaller amount. In addition, they alleviate the issue of swallowing, which an estimated 30% of the population has trouble with. 

But what is likely one of the main attractions for these gummies is that they are so enjoyable. Our market is comprised of two major segments:

  • Those who desire CBD or other hemp-derived products to address physical discomforts or other issues, and
  • Those who desire Delta 8 THC, THC-0, or other hemp-derived products for their psychoactive effect. 

In either case, gummies are more and more becoming a customer favorite because of the experience they provide. Not only is the sensation of chewing a gummy fun in itself, but the flavors and adorable shapes also heighten the enjoyment for the customer. 

We at The Hemp Doctor believe in the future growth of hemp-derived gummies. This is why we carry such an extensive selection of CBD,  Delta 8 THC, and Delta 9 THC full spectrum edible products that we make available to our retailers. And every one of our edibles follows the same strict standards we have for every item we carry.

  • They are all created from hemp grown only in the United States.
  • They are all created from hemp oil that was extracted using scientifically-advanced methods.
  • They are all completely legal on a federal level.
  • They are all tested through an independent laboratory, and we make those lab results available to our customers.

If you have any questions about our edible gummies or any of our other products or want to become one of our many retailers, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.