Alexandria, VA — Average annual in-store sales of candy is up 3.3 percent to $48,925 in c-stores, which accounts for three percent of total inside sales for the channel, according to a report published by NACS.

Sales in convenience channels are up for chocolate, gum, bagged/repackaged peg candy, non-chocolate and novelty/seasonal candy, with the highest average store sale coming from chocolate at $16, 398, a $670 increase from 2008, the data shows.

Citing information from The Nielsen Co., NACS finds total c-store sales for candy grew 4.9 percent to $4.6 billion.

Total sales of candy in FDMx rose some $858 million in 2009 to reach $13.9 billion, according data cited from Nielsen and SymphonyIRI Group, Inc. Further, the researchers report salty snack sales climbed $806 million to hit $12.5 billion across FDMx channels.