Smoki, chocolates, wafers, candy, salty snacks - products that have been part of home tables and everyone's childhood for decades. Behind that sweetness sits a serious industry. Macedonia's confectionery industry, made up of 41 companies, brought in a combined revenue of 196.6 million euros last year, a rise of more than 14 percent over the year before.

At the top by revenue sits, convincingly, Prilep's Vitaminka with a full 77.3 million euros - nearly double the second-placed Makprogres from Vinica, which earned 41.4 million. They are followed by Svislion-Agropod from Resen and Evropa from Skopje. In other words, the old, familiar names we remember from the shelves still hold the game in their hands.

But there's one detail that sours part of the sweetness. While revenue climbs, the industry's total profit fell by more than 17 percent, down to just 5.7 million euros. That means companies are selling more but earning less per product sold - the classic sign that the costs of raw materials, energy and labour are squeezing their margins. The biggest profit went to Makprogres, at 2.1 million euros.

This picture - more revenue, less profit - isn't just a story about candy. It's the whole Macedonian economy in miniature: you work more, you produce more, and in the end there's less in your pocket. If even the industry that sells pleasure is fighting over margins, what's left for those selling something less sweet? The question isn't rhetorical - it's the daily reality of every domestic producer.