In recent years, with the rapid development of the Chinese economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, the health-conscious consumption of the general public has gradually gained attention, rooted in the traditional Chinese medicine culture, and the concept of medicinal food homology has been increasingly emphasized.
Amidst this, the oriental herbs, which embody ancient charm, are vigorously making inroads into the food and beverage industry. In the current food and beverage market, there are already numerous products with prominent oriental herbal elements. For example, a jelly drinkable herbal tea contains extracts from four kinds of herbal plants, providing consumers with a more relaxed way to enjoy herbal tea.
Among the various herbal food and beverage products, the potential of herbal candies is particularly evident. Long ago, there were stories about herbal candies. It is well known that the base of candies is sugar, and the raw materials for sugar are sugarcane and sugar beets. Therefore, the connection between candies and herbs is inseparable. Herbal candies, with added herbal extracts, not only provide sweetness but also offer additional benefits, such as soothing and moisturizing the throat. Mulberry leaves can moisten the lungs, hawthorn can aid digestion, salvia miltiorrhiza can promote blood circulation, Chinese yam can invigorate the qi, and goji berries can improve vision, among others.
Wang Haining, the founder of China Candy Media, and the Executive President of the Leisure Food Professional Committee of China’s Secondary Food Circulation Association, once said, “Compared with the global candy market, Chinese candies have unique and more personalized demands.” In a sense, herbal candies rich in oriental herbal elements represent the highly personalized demands of the Chinese candy market.