Packaging and Storage

By definition, confections have a long shelf life; the word confection is derived from the French confit, meaning “preserved.” It is fair to say that unless an item can be stored safely at room temperature, it is simply not a confection.

Throughout history, one of the goals of confectionery has been preservation by sugar content, and to a large degree this is still true. The typical shelf life of confections ranges from approximately three weeks for ganache centers to a year or longer for hard candies. When properly stored, most of the products made by artisan confectioners will not suffer a significant loss of quality for approximately three months. (See Water Activity of Confections table.) The factors that limit shelf life may be the intrinsic qualities of the center such as water activity, pH, or fat content, or environmental factors such as handling, temperature, humidity, or exposure to oxygen.