Chocolate Maker (from purchased chocolate) Revenue Benchmark

Average Chocolate Maker Revenue per Year 2022 Economic Census

The 2022 Economic Census counts every confectionery manufacturer working from purchased chocolate that has paid employees, from an artisan chocolatier's kitchen to a national candy plant, and publishes their combined annual receipts. Dividing that total by the number of establishments gives the average annual revenue per employer establishment shown below.

≈$14,506,000 /year

Average annual gross revenue per employer establishment

How this is calculated: about $14.4 billion in combined annual receipts divided by 992 employer establishments works out to an average annual revenue of $14,506,000 per employer establishment.

Scope: Confectionery Manufacturing from Purchased Chocolate, NAICS 311352. The Census category is Confectionery Manufacturing from Purchased Chocolate, which counts makers of chocolate candy and products from chocolate they buy rather than from cacao beans. Bean-to-bar makers and candy stores are counted in separate categories. Classified separately in group 3113: 311313 Beet Sugar Manufacturing; 311314 Cane Sugar Manufacturing; 311340 Nonchocolate Confectionery Manufacturing, and 1 further code. Nothing outside that code is counted on this page.

Source US Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census, Summary Statistics (ECNBASIC): ESTAB, RCPTOT and PAYANN by NAICS · Vintage 2022 Economic Census · Calculation BusinessNES · Accessed September 2026

Payroll as a Share of Revenue Official data

Payroll divided by receipts, both as published for the same year.

Payroll share of receipts, Confectionery Manufacturing from Purchased Chocolate, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

Approximately 13.0 percent of every revenue dollar goes to annual payroll, a small share because bulk chocolate, sugar and packaging carry much of the cost and because the large plants in this category produce enormous volumes with automated lines.

Payroll here excludes benefits, employer taxes and owner compensation, and it excludes chocolate, ingredients, packaging and the trade discounts given to retailers, so nothing on this page shows what a maker keeps per box sold.

Business Scale and Ownership Structure Official data

How large the average establishment is, and whether the population is independent operators or multi-site companies.

Scale and ownership, Confectionery Manufacturing from Purchased Chocolate, United States, 2022 Economic Census.

The average establishment employed about 34.3 people, and the industry averaged 1.1 employer establishments per firm, which confirms that multi-establishment ownership exists in the published population without showing how establishments are distributed across firms. As an illustration, that headcount sits between a small number of large candy plants and many artisan chocolatiers with a handful of employees.

These are arithmetic industry averages. They state the size of the average establishment and show that multi-establishment ownership exists. They do not show the distribution of business sizes and they do not measure market concentration.

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Data Source Notice

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures above are from the 2022 Economic Census reference year, released by the Census Bureau in 2024 and 2025; markets have moved since.

Questions Worth Asking BusinessNES analysis

Chocolate Maker: reading a category where national brands and artisan chocolatiers share one average.

Before you rely on this benchmark

• Artisan chocolatier or candy plant? National candy plants with automated lines share this category with artisan chocolatiers, and their volumes lift the average far beyond a small kitchen. A small maker should treat the figure as a description of the trade, not as a benchmark for its own shop.
• How concentrated is the calendar? Gift seasons drive much of a chocolate maker's year, so production, cash and staffing must be committed months before the boxes sell. An annual average hides a year built around a few weeks.
• What does chocolate cost? Cocoa and bulk chocolate prices move with harvests and markets, and a maker's retail prices adjust slowly, so the reference year's margin may look nothing like the next.
• Where does the product sell? A maker's own shop earns retail margins, wholesale accounts bring volume at lower prices, and online gifting adds shipping and cold-chain costs. The channel mix behind a figure ranges from a single boutique to a national distribution network.
• Does the maker start from beans? Bean-to-bar makers who roast and grind cacao are counted in a separate category, so this figure covers makers working from purchased chocolate. The distinction matters for equipment, cost and branding.
• How is heat handled? Chocolate melts in transit and in a warm shop, so summer shipping needs insulated packaging and cold packs, and production needs climate control. Those seasonal costs sit outside a receipts figure.