Category Archives: Candy News

Candy News and Trends form the online leader in bulk candy, ACandyStore.com

Candy Bling by Mariah Carey

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Mariah Carey is surely the queen of candy. Not only has she created her lollipop bling perfume line with a definite candy theme, check out her song lyrics for her song called, Candy Bling:

“And way back then it was the simple things
Anklets, nameplates that you gave to me
Sweet Tarts, Ring Pops, got that candy bling
And you were my world

My sweet baby, my sweet thing
Like candy
Felt like real love not just play play
Missing you my sweet baby”

She sure does love candy and all that lovin seems to have set off a chain reaction; the song prompted a wedding proposal from her boyfriend using a Ring Pop candy wrapped diamond for the engagement ring which then gave Mariah the idea for the candy bling perfume line. Talk about one good thing begetting another good thing.  That candy ring wrapper proposal was two years ago and to celebrate the anniversary Nick stuck to theme with a Ring Pop ring anniversary gift. This time it was a custom made treat hand crafted at Jason of Beverly Hills. This Ring Pop was made of white gold encrusted with diamonds and pink sapphires. The latest rumors are that the couple may be expecting a child which will of course sweeten things even more, and give the couple an ongoing excuse to keep the candy themed cute ideas coming.

Candy Bling is not to be confused with Hard Candy Bling Bling: Shimmer/Glitter which is make-up, or with Bling Candy (as opposed to candy bling) which is an online fashion experience that has nothing to do with Mariah Carey, but is also very cool and hip.

Jelly Bean Art

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This is extraordinary. The art forms conceptualized using jelly beans as the medium is phenomenal and it’s all available for view in the Jelly Belly Bean Art Gallery. The gallery boasts three main rooms comprising Famous People, American History & Political Figures and Icons & Other Cool Stuff. A tour through the jelly bean gallery leaves one speechless.

The Famous People jelly bean art room boasts uncannily real images of classic and contemporary famous people including jelly bean pioneers, innovators, royalty and celebrities. Some of the familiar faces in the room include Marilyn Munroe, George Clooney, Amelia Earnhardt, Chief Rainbow Tree, Diana; Princess of Wales, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Larry King and Laurel & Hardy amongst the many illustrious names of fame. Images in this jelly bean gallery are all approximately four feet by four feet and one can only imagine how many jelly beans per image.

The American History and Political Figures gallery has an amazing George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and other American presidents posing in front of the American flag (jelly bean of course). As well, this gallery has brilliant jelly bean images of Martin Luther King Jr, Benjamin Franklin, General Doolittle and other extraordinary images of great Americans.

The final jelly bean room is the Icon & Other Cool stuff gallery which is an understatement of what there is to see; Minnie Mouse, American Gothic, the Statue of Liberty and the American Bald Eagle are all recreated in jelly beans for the amazement and delight of visitors. The gallery can be browsed by visitors online or in person in Fairfield, California, or down Jelly Belly Lane in Wisconsin. Both galleries offer more jelly bean art than is available in the online galleries.

Fundraising Candy

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Every year millions of children around the world set out in their neighborhoods to raise funds for charity. Worthy organizations or local sporting or cultural clubs are usually the beneficiaries of this unbridled and genuine altruism.

Many candy wholesalers will negotiate even better than wholesale prices for bulk candy if the reason for sale is a good cause, so it is worth letting the candy sales rep know this right from the start. Good wholesale candy company representatives will also offer a wealth of information in terms of successful products, popular items and numbers to order.

Packaged chocolate bars are by far the most popular fundraising candy both in terms of popularity with customers and also bulk buy bargaining. Nonetheless other packaged candy is available for those who want to offer their customers something a little bit different like packets of Sour Mini Gummi Burgers or Mike and Ike Minis or even Mini York Peppermint Patties. Some of the most popular chocolate choices available are Skittles, Toblerone Mini Chocolate bars and Hershey’s Assorted Miniature Chocolate bars.

Fundraising committees will gain better profits if they put a little research into their best fundraising candy sale options. For example, a review of previous fundraising statistics to determine what the best sellers were in years’ past. That way the sale offerings are sure to be popular choices. Also, ask the candy wholesaler to provide the bulk candy in counter sale boxes. That way families with businesses can display the fundraising candy in their reception areas or on store counters. This is also helpful if you have volunteers willing to set up a table outside of grocery or department stores.

Recent statistics show that fundraising is as important as it’s ever been. Statistics show the very large sums of money that exchange hands in donations, just look at these figures from the National Centre for Charitable Statistics (NCSS) online:

  • The number of non-profit organizations in 2009 was 1,569,572 and of these nearly a million were public charities.
  • Non-profits account for nearly 9% of wages and salaries paid in the U.S.
  • In 2007, public charities reported over $1.4 trillion in total revenues and nearly $1.3 trillion in total expenses.
  • 11% of those 1.4 trillion dollars came from “other” sources including dues, rental income, special event income, and gains or losses from goods sold.
  • Approximately 26.4% of Americans over the age of 16 volunteered through or for an organization between September 2007 and September 2008.
  • Educational institutions received the second largest percentage, with 13.3% of total estimated contributions.
  • Human service organizations accounted for 8.4% of total estimated contributions in 2008, the fourth largest share.
  • Individuals gave $229.28 billion in 2008.

Fundraising dollars, when added up, equal very big money, with a large proportion provided by individual donors to education or other non-profit enterprises. There is a reason that 80% of fundraising organizations use fundraising candy. Fundraising candy offers the best to everyone, a treat that buyers WANT to purchase, a product that is fun and easy to sell and revenue for worthy schools or causes – now that’s sweet.

All Candy is Not Created Equal 

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Green Candy

Fair trade practices, eco friendly systems and sustainable resources are issues that affect every business today and should be an important part of company policy. In that respect not all candy created is created equal. That is not to say all candy must be organic and from sugar crops in first world countries and so forth, but it is to say that every company should be aware, as part of it’s civic responsibility, of where their products come from and how they are made. Wholesalers for several companies also should be aware of the practices and policies of each company with whom they do business.

A great example of a responsible company is Nestlé, a company that ACandyStore.com is particularly proud to be in partnership with because of their example of sustainable corporate citizenship in terms of staff and product. Just last month the company were ranked in the top 50 of desirable companies to work for, and also received commendable rankings in terms of carbon disclosure leadership. The latter has placed the company in what is called a Band A. This is a prestigious ranking which indicates excellence for overall performance in the areas of understanding the issues related to climate change, their initiatives in the area and the company’s achievement of climate change objectives.

As part of their corporate strategy for sustainability Nestlé go way above and beyond the legal requirements of any of the countries they work with to source ingredients, or where they employ staff. In the words of Nestlé (Creating Shared Value Report 2009), “This involves compliance with national laws and relevant conventions, as well as our own regulations, which often go beyond our legal obligations.  Beyond that, how we do business is based on sustainability – ensuring that our activities preserve the environment for future generations…sustainable development to Nestlé means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Another great company ACandyStore.com is proud to be affiliated with is Mars. This is more popularly known as the company that makes M&M’s, Mars and Snickers bars. This company has five basic principles for how they do business in a civically minded way; these are quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom. Aspects of these principles include sustainable cocoa farms because the company belief is that profitability cannot come at the expense of people or the planet.  In the words of this excellent corporate citizen (Mars.com), “We depend completely on the strength of our relationships, and we believe we will only achieve the best results as a company if we are unselfish in these relationships and give a fair return. On this basis, we try to act as a good corporate citizen in the communities in which we live and work at all times.”

All candy is not created equal. These companies, and other partner companies of ACandyStore.com, are proactive in their approach to corporate citizenry. Although their products are created with generally farmed cocoa and sugar crops, their practices in terms of human and environmental resources extend well beyond legal requirements. For those who are looking for an entirely organic candy experience Finnska organic soft licorice is an unbeatable taste sensation that meets all of the requirements of pure organic.

Candy and Chocolate Sweeteners

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Although everyone knows that candy and chocolate are made with sugar most people don’t realize there is a distinction between types of sugars, quality of sugars and definite pros and cons between using natural and artificial sweeteners. Americans are especially conscious about packing on the pounds and will often turn to artificial sweeteners in an attempt to cut calories. What many people don’t know is that natural sugars are a necessary part of a healthy diet, they are absorbed better and they do not carry with them some of the health concerns of artificial sweeteners which have been implicated in several kinds of cancer.

It is good and commendable to read the ingredients list on everything you buy and this is what every responsible and health conscious consumer should know about candy and chocolate sweeteners. Artificial products used as candy and chocolate sweeteners in several studies have shown weight increases. Whether this is due to increased consumption because people think they can is a possibility, but one of the tests conducted used mice so it may be that these sugars simply don’t burn off as well as natural sugars. Natural sugar is sucrose derived from either sugar cane or from sugar beet and they burn more energy than artificial sweeteners, but they also burn more easily in the human body. Other natural sweeteners like licorice or honey are ingredients often used in candy and chocolate. These products are particularly good for you as both honey and licorice are excellent in terms of health, and both reduce the amount of sugar needed to make the product sweet. Natural sugars used in the production of candy and chocolate are also excellent natural preservatives, often requiring fewer artificial additives to retain quality, texture and shelf life.

Candy Scents Popular with Fashion Celebrities

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Mariah Carey Candy Bling

Candy is hot and candy scents are even hotter. It seems that as long as it’s candy colored or candy scented it’s been on the top of the must have list this year. DKNY is just one of the fashion heavyweights who have jumped on board the candy express with Delicious Candy Apple fragrances. Like Mariah Carey’s candy fragrance line, DKNY has created a threesome of candy scents. The DKNY scents have been made and promoted with a candy apple theme. Donna Karan’s scented threesome is deliciously named Ripe Raspberry, Sweet Caramel and Juicy Berry.

The eau de parfum is gorgeously presented in apple shaped bottles of candy purple, candy red and candy green. Colors any self respecting sports car would be proud of – in other words racy. Racy is the perfect word for these candy scents that definitely target a young, sexy crowd. The purple pottle contains the magic Juicy Berry perfume that will appeal to those who enjoy a nice musky wood essence with fresh, fruity overtones.  Sweet Caramel Candy Apple is the green bottled scent and definitely the sweetest of the three options with hints of vanilla and marshmallow – yummy! Ripe Raspberry Candy Apple is of course the red bottle containing a fresh spring flavor, or rather smell, making it the brightest and bubbliest of the candy apple bunch.

DKNY fashion says class and sophistication. Coupling a candy scented threesome of perfumes with the DKNY branding creates a scent that gives the impression of fresh sophistication. Young people looking for a classy fresh scent won’t have to worry about any flowery old undertones with these perfumes – they are all youth and sunshine and candy!

The Story of the Candy Bomber

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Candy Bomber Plane

I can’t help but think about the candy bomber story of WWII when I think about bulk candy. I can only imagine the volume of bulk candy that pilot must have had on board his plane to get the response he did from the German children who lived through that war.

Gail Halvorson, a WWII pilot was the candy bomber. He was charged with flying food packages and supplies into Berlin at the end of the war. The soviets were trying to get the Americans back out of Berlin with road blocks so the Americans did what they had to do by air. Delivering tons of food and supplies by plane to circumvent the soviet roadblocks and keep West Berlin free.

Gail was deeply moved by the state of the buildings and landscape he could see from the air and found it difficult to comprehend how the Germans were living amongst that rubble, but over 2 million Germans were. There was also such a lot of sadness and mistrust between the Germans and the Americans from years of fighting. The wounds of war ran deep.

It was this emotion and passion that prompted Gail’s idea for a bulk candy drop over Berlin. This was the most amazing and memorable bulk candy drop in all of history, without a doubt. This unique war hero dropped tiny parachutes filled with bulk candy to German children watching the planes land at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport. The response was instant and deeply moving. Hundreds of German children and their parents wrote to Gail offering their thanks and appreciation.

Gail Halvorson eased the tension between the Germans and Americans, and he made children happy who had survived and lived with such horrors in their young lives, with a candy drop.

Candy Cars

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If only they were smaller, the candy car trend makes cars look so sugary delicious you want to lick them like rainbow whirly pops! Candy apple red used to be ‘the’  hot race car color but the latest mouth watering options offer every color in the rainbow. Do-it-yourself candy paint kits make the transition from bland to candy as smooth as gumballs.

To sweeten the deal further those wanting to convert to candy colors can opt for a metallic or a clear candy look. Some great candy colors in the do-it-yourself range have some delicious sounding names as well. Some of these are fuchsia, lime green, mandarin orange and lemon yellow.

If you’re really keen and want to mix your own candy car color these are the basic steps, only recommended for those that know what they are doing though! Prime and block down as many times as necessary. Apply base coat and then candy color. For an added unique candy effect apply a coat of clear paint mixed with flake followed by another coat of straight clear.

For those that aren’t sure of exactly the candy look they are after, a number of websites offer palettes you can place on top of base coat colors to see what the effect will be. Alternatively candy color car bodies are available which you can purchase and actually place over your car (base colored applied already) as an overlay. In this way the car can be viewed in different light and the candy color finish seen clearly and accurately.

Candy color cars are fun and for the car hobby enthusiast, a neat addition to car color options. Other fun ideas for the enthusiast are stickers, motifs, creative hubcaps and knobs and of course all the great neon you can get for in and around the car.

Traditional and Seasonal Candy Displays

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AllBusiness.com notes that while “Retailers have done a good job bringing shoppers to the candy aisles. It is time now, many experts agree, to refocus on traditional and seasonal categories.” The point that they are trying to make, and with which many candy wholesalers would agree, is that now that customers are back in the candy stores it is important to offer exciting and innovative presentation. This is particularly true for traditional and seasonal candy. In order to enhance the shopping experience and bring candy products on par with the contemporary creativeness of other branded products innovation is necessary.

The ways to highlight traditional and seasonal candy stands are endless of course but some success stories of well merchandised bulk candy sections make great examples and provide food for thought. Experience shows that the most important aspect of bulk candy sales is placement. High traffic areas are essential as the decision to buy traditional or seasonal candy is often an impulse, determined more by visibility than by price. In stores that sell items other than bulk candy that is particularly important.

The best type of display for bulk candy is an either inverted or extroverted circular design in a self contained area. Within the circular design, specific themed areas are very successful and this is where a merchandiser is well advised to place the traditional and seasonal candy section. Impulse products like bulk candy need a wow factor to attract and entice the customer. Excellent suggestions are towers above clear bins, or false fronts, showing candy. This will add excitement and visual appeal to bulk displays.  For the traditional and seasonal candy area curved bump-out areas will draw additional attention to that specific unit. Well lit displays are also more appealing and attract more customer attention.

Some of the specific bulk candies that might be featured in a traditional and seasonal candy display are of course Halloween candy, but there are quite a few other events and ceremonies which include bulk candy. Both Hanukkah and Thanksgiving have many of their own special candies identified with the occasion.

For Hanukkah consider a display of Hanukkah fruit flashers, chocolate gold coins, silver coated chocolate hearts, blue raspberry fruit sours, silver Jordan almonds, blue and silver chocolate meltaways, blueberry Star of David crystal cuts, jelly belly Hanukkah mix, Hanukkah lollipals, Chanukah discs, Chanukah coins and Hanukkah dreidel filled coins. These will make a spectacular feature display of sparking golds, silvers and blues.

For Thanksgiving, or even an Autumn themed stand or display, try exhibits of candy corn, sunflower tangy candy, lemon crunch leaf candy, Thanksgiving turkey suckers, fall mint truffles, gold milk chocolate stars, bronze and brown dark chocolate hearts, milk chocolate autumn leaves, large or miniature milk chocolate turkeys, jelly belly autumn mix and jelly belly fall festival mix.

Thanksgiving and Hanukkah themed displays presented alongside a Halloween display will offer eye catching contrast of theme and color which if presented well, will be tasteful and very attractive indeed.