Confectionery Industry

Confectionery is the industry and craft of making confections, sweet foods rich in sugar and carbohydrates, divided into baker's confectionery such as pastries and cakes and sugar confectionery such as candies, chocolates, and chewing gum. The trade supports its own specialized training and occupations, paralleling the French patissier for pastry work and confiseur for sugar work, and carries a long documented history from ancient times into the present. Its products range from flour-based sweet baked goods to candied fruits and nuts and chocolate confections, an output shaped over time by innovations such as Cadbury's 1868 introduction of the heart-shaped chocolate box for Valentine's Day. The industry spans both large-scale manufacturing and specialized craft production, with the two branches, baking and sugar work, remaining its basic organizing division.