Each week, Just Food’s journalists analyse data on patent filings and grants that illustrate innovation trends in our sector. These patent signals show where the leading companies are focusing their research and development investment – and why. We uncover key innovation areas in the sector and the themes that drive them.

This new, thematic patents coverage is powered by our underlying Disruptor data which tracks all major deals, patents, company filings, hiring patterns and social media buzz across our sectors.

More than 800 patent applications were made in the global confectionery category in the first half of the year, with a quarter linked to health and wellness, data shows.

In the six months to the end of June, some 865 requests for patents were made in the confectionery sector, figures from GlobalData, Just Food’s parent, suggest.

More than a quarter of those – 246 – were classified by the research and intelligence group as being related to health and wellness.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics database contains global figures on the patents filed – and granted – by businesses across multiple sectors. Each patent is classified by theme, including those linked to areas such as the environment or health and wellness.

The research group also lists applications by geography. Some 336 of the 865 requests were lodged in China.

The database also examines patent applications by company. In the field of health and wellness, the business in the confectionery sector that requested approval for the most patents during the opening half of the year was Nestlé with 23.

The KitKat maker was followed by China-based agri-food group COFCO, ingredients giant Cargill, US frozen-treats business Coldsnap and General Mills.