Candy that Goes the Extra Mile: Five Types of Candy that Double as Entertainment

Whether you’re stocking a store, run a school or summer camp, or just want something fun for the family, fewer things instill instant nostalgia in children than candy that performs double duty as a fun game or toy. We have fond memories of our own childhood favorites and can’t wait to introduce another generation to the memory-making power of some of these time-honored novelty brands. Below are our favorite old stand-bys along with some new classics:

1. e. Frutti Gummi Candy

This fun candy brand produces, among other things, the infamous Gummi Hamburgers, Gummi Pizzas, and Gummi Hotdogs. Kids love the adorable (and adorably sweet!) miniature versions of their favorite food items, and many a child has meticulously created their own way to take apart and eat these candy “toys.” Since each mini product is individually wrapped, children also love the process of purchasing their own candy for the cost of just a couple quarters.

2. Pop Rocks

Who doesn’t remember the first time they tried Pop Rocks? This strange, fun candy contains little carbon dioxide bubbles that “pop” on melting, which produces a crackling sensation in your mouth as you eat them. Children go nuts over the hilarity of a candy that plays this unusual trick, and will often rush to make their friends try it. We can attest to the fact that putting Pop Rocks into glasses of water or a can of Sprite to see what happens next is usually the natural evolution of the Pop Rocks experience.

3. Sour Warheads

Sour Warheads are another great “socializing” candy; once a child first tries this intensely sour, mouth-puckering candy, they’re sure to grab a couple of friends to start an impromptu competition. The Warheads line has since expanded to include an even better variety of fun, playful candy, including Warheads Sour Dippers, Warheads Sour Spray, and even liquid candy drops.

4. Candy Necklaces and Ring Pops

These two wearable classics are here to stay. Although candy necklaces and ring pops aren’t made by the same company (the former originated with Ce De Candy, Inc; the latter with Topps), the two often go hand-in-hand to create a set of candy jewelry fit for bourgeoning princesses everywhere. We love ring pops in particular for their bright, costume jewelry-like appearance.

5. Kidsmania Flash Pops

The Kidsmania brand, without a doubt, ranks highly among candy companies who double as purveyors of fun. Just consider their unique Flash pops, which light up into an array of bright colors with the push of a button. Kidsmania also created the popular soda can candy, the “quick blast” fire extinguisher, and the shape-projecting laser pops. These inventive candies are a hit as a party favor for kids and adults alike. So go ahead and have some fun! No matter how old you are, everyone deserves a little more whimsy in their life.

Candy for Road Trips

The prospect of taking a road trip is exciting for the whole family, and an abundance of sweet treats for all to enjoy during the journey helps enhance the pleasure and create pleasant memories. Along with beach items, sunglasses and insulated cups to keep beverages cool, do not forget to pack plenty of candy that resists melting as you prepare for a summer road trip. Winter traveling, on the other hand, calls for warm coats, gloves and hats, and along with other candies, you can include some chocolate bars or pieces if you keep them out of the sunshine and away from the heater vents in your vehicle. Dark chocolate can help ease emotional stress and give you some of the same great feelings you are missing with Winter’s shorter days and limited sunlight. Re-sealable packages help store candy conveniently after opening the bags, and if you’re worried that summertime heat may lower the quality of your favorite candy, store it in sealed bags in your cool ice chest.

Candy Games

 

Children can get fidgety and tired of riding after only a short time on the road unless you devise ways to amuse them and divert their attention from their complaints. When driving on less-traveled roads, you may ask each child to pull a random M&M or Skittle from a bag and watch for vehicles of that color. The child who spots his or her chosen color first wins another piece or a package of candy. On busier highways, the kids can look for specific numbers, letters, words or colors on billboards or on the sides of trucks with a candy reward to help prolong the game. You can invent other simple games to entertain your youngsters, and you will keep their interest longer when they receive prizes of candy.

Practicing Road Safety

 

On long journeys, candy can be useful for many reasons, and one of its most valuable benefits deals with safety. Driving for lengthy periods can cause drowsiness, and most people know that it is always best to stop and sleep for a few minutes or get out of the car and walk around for a while until they feel alert again. Unfortunately, many people ignore the warning signs of sluggishness and excessive yawning and just keep driving to arrive at their destinations more quickly. Always keep some candy in a spot easily accessible to the driver because chewing something like fruit-flavored, firm and soft Haribo Gummi Bears or Trolli Gummi Neon Squiggles can help you stay more attentive. Make a game of eating the candy by reaching into the bag without looking and guessing which flavor you will pop into your mouth next, and every time you guess right, reward yourself with another piece. Sucking on some Red Hots with their spicy, cinnamon taste or Atomic FireBalls with an even more intense cinnamon flavor may be just what you need to make you forget about being tired. The popping noise and mild crackling sensation you experience when eating Pop Rocks will startle your senses into alertness, but you may prefer long-lasting lollipops with bold flavors like those in Jolly Rancher Pops. Whatever your preference, keeping your mouth busy savoring the goodness of sweet treats can help sharpen your vigilance.



Create nostalgic memories of enjoyable road trips by always including several particular brands of candy that all family members or fellow travelers love, and hand the sweets out as special treats during every journey. Before long, your friends will remind you in advance of each expedition not to forget about bringing the “road trip” candy. You will find that seeing or tasting the special candy even years later will evoke fond memories of the delightful journeys shared with your family or companions.

Party Candy Ideas

Planning a party is fun, and it’s even better with delicious, new ideas. If your strategy is easy on the schedule and the budget, that just makes it sweeter. Come up with something that everyone will love, and the hostess in your heart starts to sing. All you need is the inspiration of irresistible candy.

 

Delicious DIY Fun

Children know that yummy candy puts pizazz in everything, so take a cue from the kids. Let sweet treats get your creative party juices flowing. Affordable packaged candy is easy to work with and comes in enticing flavors, colors and shapes. You don’t have to clean out the local grocery shelves to set a theme or fulfill your decorating dreams. From the love of lollipops to cravings for boxed chocolates, online shopping is a golden ticket to DIY fun. Buy all your favorites in bulk, and let your candy party planner go wild.

Candy Goes With Everything

It’s hard to imagine a party that isn’t better with sweet offerings, and it’s easy to entertain with special goodies that don’t keep you in the kitchen. Imagine a birthday bash that spreads the fun with little present boxes of delectable bites for each guest. Picture setting a beautiful reception scene with a fabulous full-table candy buffet. Throw a class reunion celebration around the retro charm of Blow Pops and Jelly Bellies. From baby showers to retirement parties, sweet treats add a tasty touch to every occasion.

Set a Sweet Theme

Popcorn is boring at binge TV parties and movie marathons. Instead, set a scrumptious stage with theater favorites like Boston Baked Beans, Swedish Fish and Milk Duds. Invite the gang over for an evening of board games, and break out the Skittles for a rainbow of edible playing pieces. You can have a fun, low stakes casino night by using M&Ms or Skittles for a poker game. Make any backyard get-together a real hit with swinging pinatas that spill delicious treasures of wrapped candy and yummy chews. Serve up colorful Royal Gumball cocktails in margarita glasses and champagne flutes at your next grownup party, and enjoy new levels of adult conversation.

 

Kick It Up With Candy

Once you catch the candy craze, easy ideas pop up like visions of sugar plums. Take fresh cookies warm from the oven, and gently button them with M&Ms for a mouthwatering chocolate crunch. Turn a pretty frosted cake into real eye candy by decorating it with bright layers of colorful Gummy Bears. Why serve plain vanilla ice cream? Crown that creamy dessert with Cella’s Chocolate Cherries for a gorgeous bowl of gourmet delight. Put flavorful fizz in soda with jumbo peppermint balls, and jazz up cupcakes with twisted Twizzler toppers.

When you open up a big bag of tasty treats, turn your sweet tooth into inspiration. It’s easy to come up with great party candy ideas and impress guests with original spins on old favorites. With a little imagination and a touch of candy creativity, your next occasion is destined to be deliciously special.

Nostalgic Candy

Almost nothing transports you to another time and place more directly than a song or a scent of perfume, but candy that you enjoyed as a child can take you there in an instant. Most of the candies that you enjoyed then originated in the early 1900s. Their popularity nearly 100 years later assures you of a way to stage a successful fundraising event. Gummy bears, Jujubes, Jolly Ranchers, Junior Mints and lollipops are perennial favorites that have a nostalgic appeal that makes them sell well today.

Connecting Junior Mints and Junior Miss

Using candy to remind people of happy times is a way to increase sales. The familiar white boxes with green print are as much of a favorite now as they were in the 30s and 40s. Americans were in love with child star Shirley Temple, and her role on the Junior Miss radio sitcom in 1942 gave them a favorite name for her. Linking a famous name to the popular treat gave it widespread acceptance that still exists today. You have a ready market for a treat that is a favorite of all ages, and we offer cartons of 12, 24 and 72 individual boxes of Junior Mints.

Our line of gums and mints includes bags of LifeSavers, Jumbo Mint Balls, Rainblo Bubble Gum, assorted flavors of Dubble Bubble, Dentyne ice, Beeman’s and Wrigley’s. For a quick trip into yesterday, include Clove chewing gum for a nostalgic accent.

Inventing Gummy Bears

Watching dancing bears perform in 18th century street fairs in Europe inspired a German candy maker to create gummy bears. Popular enough for a trip across the ocean, the sugary and chewy treat came to America in the early 1900s. A booth at a craft fair in the spring or fall can produce results for your fundraiser when you offer them for sale. Renaissance fairs today are reminiscent of street fairs in Europe, and people have plenty of time to enjoy turkey legs. You can present your wares as a pleasantly sweet alternative.

Our product line contains the most popular Trolli specialties, including Gummy Bears, Squigglers, Peachie O’s, Strawberry Puffs, Brite Octopus, Classic Bears and Brite Crawlers. Our Sour Patch Watermelon and Swedish Fish add to our presentation of gummy candies for every taste.

Sticking with the Lollipop and Hard Candies

Everyone remembers having a lollipop as a child, and you can capitalize on their taste for a candy that continues to please young and old alike. Some candy making legends contend that an American company popularized the current form of the treat that was enjoyed in ancient cultures. An anglicized version of an Arabic word for sugar coated treats appears as our word for candy.

Using sticks to stir the mix for hard candies, the owner of a candy making company found that his children enjoyed eating the sugary substance that stuck to the stirs. By 1906, he started marketing the sticks. Popular brands in our hard candy line include Charms, Jolly Rancher, Columbina and Werther’s Originals.

Treasuring a Big Bag or Bar

An occasion that allowed you to have a big bar for yourself alone probably stands out as a memorable one, especially if it was accompanied by a sugary drink. A huge bar of Hershey chocolate was savored for each bite, and saving part of it for later likely did not occur to you. The same thrill of filling your taste buds with creamy chocolate is still as rewarding now as it was then.

Our bag of licorice Twizzlers appeals to candy connoisseurs everywhere, and our Peppermint Pattie offers an equally delightful taste sensation. We have full size bars in brands that include Pay Day, Nutrageous, Mr. Goodbar and Fast Break in addition to Hershey’s, York Peppermint Pattie and Junior Mints.

Finding a Good Location for a Fundraiser

Sports complexes in communities across the country reflect the popularity of providing healthy activities for children, and many have lights for evening activities as well. Parents and friends of children who participate in baseball, football and soccer attend events every weekend in spring, summer and fall. By making arrangements with event organizers, you can occupy a booth or set up some tables to display your wares. Many merchants allow sponsors of fundraisers to sell products on their premises, especially if the fundraiser is for a worthy cause.

8 Summer Candy Ideas

Summer dreams are fast approaching, promising heights of green life across all the land. The pleasant hum of honeybees brings a drowsy peace to lush gardens, and vacationers are smiling already at the thought of what lies ahead. The season of comfortable heat, water slides and happy children calls for the very best treats.

1.  Reese's Pieces

Brilliantly conceived by an unknown genius who must have remembered his childhood with great fondness, this modern miracle from the Hershey company possesses the power to leap happily into the mouths of both adults and little ones. An army of brightly colored, sugary-crisp shells slyly hides an explosion of peanut-butter flavor that reveals itself to the eager chomps of a candy lover. Our 5.3-ounce bags are just right for the playful appetites of an afternoon, and we even offer a 25-pound bag meant to heartily fill the needs of a larger group.

2.  Gummy Candies

Immensely popular with hard-core fans of militant sugar, gummies have gleefully taken over entire cities and conquered even the grim-faced inhabitants of corporate boardrooms. Fruity flavors such as peach, apple and watermelon dominate the leading battalions of gummies, and it's easy to see their appeal in either sweet classics or mouth-puckeringly sour varieties that will virtually order you to have a great time. Naturally, you'll find Sour Patch Kids™ and Starburst™ fighters in our ranks, and we've made certain to recruit Trolli™ octopuses and other exotic troops for a maximum of jolliment. Be sure to examine our entire line of soldiers in the war for the ultimate triumph of flavor.

3.  Maple Candies

Often overlooked in a sea of bright confections, leaf-brown maple candies firmly evoke the goodness of natural sugars. Available all year round, the carefully condensed syrup of the maple tree flows into artistic shapes that snuggle into protective boxes for the pleasure of discerning customers. Our store carries a thoughtful selection of maple-sugar fancies meant to delight your taste buds or to surprise a good friend.

4.  Hard Candies and Lollipops

From the timeless caramel drops that proudly march from a Werther's Original™ bag of hard candies to a monkey jumble of Jolly Rancher™ lollipops, we can satisfy any taste for bold slurping. Traditionalists may especially enjoy brightening up their patio tables with uncompromisingly striped rods of upright flavors that make their home in a steel tin of Gilliam Old-Fashioned Sticks™, and no decorative guest platter for your living-room coffee table is complete without red-and-white jumbo mint balls mixing it up with a gang of blue raspberry and cherry balls.

5.  Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

The boffins at the Jelly Belly company have long been known for their astounding ability to imbue ordinary jelly beans with vivid flavors, some of which might almost have leaped out of a fever dream from the psychedelic Sixties. Our 3.5-ounce bags of assorted flavors from Jelly Belly will startle your taste buds into singing praises unto the warm blue skies, and kids of all ages will adore emptying a box or three of Jelly Belly's amazingly multicolored Wrecking Ball™ jawbreakers as they race about fulfilling the promise of unending weeks without school.

6.  Twizzlers Candy

Emerging from a bout of splashing noisily in the great sea or in the clear, calm water of a swimming pool almost demands lazing afterward on a beach chair with a tall glass of iced tea and a few sticks of cherry-flavored Twizzlers. Happily munching on this old standby virtually defines summer for many people, and needless to say, strawberry-flavored Twizzlers™ are also available from our store.

7.  Hershey's Giant Bar

After a vigorous romp at the park with a Frisbee™ or a pigskin, king-sized appetites and hungry buddies will yell for their share of a generous 7-ounce bar of Hershey's famous milk-chocolate bar. Nut enthusiasts will want their bars of Hershey's milk chocolate with almonds sent out promptly, without delay and with all due haste. Hershey's candymakers are justifiably known as world leaders in confectionery, and we're proud to carry these gigantic versions of their famed bars.



8.  Fluffy Stuff Cotton Candy

Carnivals and county fairs are marvelous occasions, but fans of the cotton candy found everywhere at these events need not wait to soothe their sweet tooth. We offer yummy bags of Fluffy Stuff™ cotton candy for any time you want to chow down on the meltingly delicious stuff. They keep forever, so you can safely stock up on them to make sure you never run out!

Summer only comes once a year, and walking in the park with a loved one, gazing quietly at fluffy white clouds that sprawl across an impossibly blue sky and dancing with abandon at a festival all contribute to the slow weave of memories that defines our lives. Adding excellent candies brings a sweet flavor to those memories, and our shop boasts aisles of quality choices that are sure to bring that last, fine edge of joy to the long, warm days of summer.

How Gummy Candy is Made

In the early 1920s, Hans Riegel created the first gummy bear and started a company named Haribo to produce and distribute his candies. Trolli created the first gummy worm in the early 1980s, stimulating a competitive market for unique shapes and flavors. Today, Haribo and Trolli are leading brand names in the candy industry and are known for creating unique gummy shapes and flavors, such as Haribo's Smurf gummy candy.

Gummy Ingredients

The main ingredient in most gummy candies is gelatin. This is a protein derived from the collagen found in animal skin, tendons, ligaments and bones. These animal byproducts are boiled in water over low heat for an extended period of time in order to form the gelatin used to create gummy candy. When the gelatin is dried, it takes on the chewy, elastic consistency that is characteristic of gummy candy.

Gelatin softens and eventually liquefies when heated, and that is why gummy candies seem to melt on your tongue if you hold them in your mouth rather than chewing them up immediately. While gelatin is what makes gummy candy unique, it is odorless and colorless. To create the sweet flavors that consumers enjoy, manufacturers mix the following ingredients with gelatin:

• Flavorings
• Sweeteners
• Starches
• Food coloring
• Citric acid

Many manufacturers are now creating gummy candy from pectin instead of gelatin. Pectin is made from fruits and plants rather than animal byproducts, so it appeals to vegetarians. These candies are made in virtually the same way as gelatin candy, but the ingredient list varies.

A Gummy is Born

The creation of gummy candy starts at the design table. Creative thinkers determine the shape, flavor and color for the product and create drawings to reflect the design. From gummy bears and worms to sharks and bottles of root beer, these candies start out as fun characters with interesting shapes. Flavors and colors are selected depending on the character of each candy product.

Different companies work through the creative process in their own way. For example, Haribo design teams sketch each gummy candy by hand before creating designs on the computer. Other companies may start out with computer animations of their designs. Either way, the designs are used to create molds that will ensure a uniform shape for each gummy candy produced.

Once the molds are created, a manufacturing plant creates large batches of liquid gelatin or pectin flavored and colored according to the creative design. This liquid product is injected into the molds, and the molds are stored in a drying room. The liquid sets into the chewy, stretchy gummy consistency characteristic of gummy candies.

To prevent the candies from sticking together when packaged, they are covered with a thin layer of wax. The candies are then processed into sealed packages so that the manufacturer can distribute them to stores around the world. To ensure consistency in packaging, the candies are weighed to ensure each package contains the right amount of candy. While most candy is sold in individual packages, some gummies are also sold through bulk candy bins and are shipped to storefronts in bulk packages.

Testing for Quality

Manufacturers must check every batch of gummy candy created to ensure that it meets all industry regulations as well as expectations of quality upheld by the company. After the liquid gelatin or pectin is mixed with the flavorings and other ingredients required by the recipe, it is sent to a quality control laboratory to ensure that it is high enough quality for production. This is done before the actual gummy candy is created, so manufacturing teams can make adjustments as necessary.

Manufacturing plants also implement quality checks before the gummies are packaged for distribution. The final product should have a uniform appearance and taste, and all packaging is checked for tight seals to ensure the candy remains fresh.

The Legacy Lives On

In October 2013, Hans Riegel passed away at the age of 90, but his gummy creations continue to please taste buds around the world as the Haribo company thrives. Competing manufacturers continue to enter the market due to the extreme popularity of gummy candy around the world.

The History of M&Ms

M&Ms are one of the most popular candies in the world, but very few people know the incredible story behind them and how they gained their fame. These chocolates coated in candy shells are now available in several varieties in addition to the original version, which is known as Plain M&Ms.

The Mars Company

The history of M&Ms begins with Forrest Mars, Sr., the son of Frank C. Mars, who founded the Mars Company. Frank Mars established his family candy company in 1902 as a private home business, but in 1911, it officially became known as Mars-O-Bar. When he changed the name from Mars-O-Bar to the Mars Company, he was already producing three chocolate bar staples that remain popular today: Milky Way, Snickers and Three Musketeers.

Frank wanted his son Forrest to be a part of the family business and follow in his footsteps, but the two did not get along very well, which led to Forrest being sent overseas to run the European division of Mars. It is rumored that during his time in Europe, Forrest noticed some of the soldiers in the Spanish Civil War eating small pieces of chocolate coated in hard candy. He discovered that an acquaintance of his from the Rowntree family had been producing the candy in conjunction with Nestle since 1937.

Forrest believed he could improve on the candy, or at the very least, produce a version that could be distributed in the United States since Rowntree’s version was only sold in Europe. He created a recipe for the candy and sought to partner with Bruce Murrie, who was the son of the president of the Hershey Company. Their cooperation resulted in the candies being produced for the first time on March 3, 1941, and they were given the name M&Ms for the last names of the two partners: Mars and Murrie.

The first M&Ms were available in six colors: brown, green, orange, red, violet and yellow. These colorful chocolates became successful the same year they were introduced, and they were so integral to the success of the Mars Company that the name was changed to M&M Mars, Inc.

M&Ms and World War II

By the following year, M&Ms were so popular that the Mars factory in Newark, New Jersey, was producing more than 200,000 lbs. of the candies every week. However, most of them were not being sold to the public but were given to soldiers who were going to fight in World War II. These favorite candies of U.S. service members were considered to be standard-issue gear, and by the end of the war, more than 600,000 lbs. were produced weekly.

In 1947, M&M were sold to the public in quarter-pound bags at a price of $0.15 each, and in 1950, M&M Mars, Inc. began stamping them with their famous m logo so that they were differentiated from the various imitations that had been appearing.

During the 1950s, M&Ms became even more popular than they already had been. The factory was now operating 24 hours per day and producing more than 1 million lbs. every week. Nearly everyone in the country knew of the candies by this time, and they were not even advertised on television until mid-decade.

In 1954, several landmark events occurred in the history of M&Ms. The executives of M&M Mars, Inc. decided to further capitalize on the popularity of their signature candy by introducing a new variety: Peanut M&Ms. In addition, the company began printing the m logo on the candies in white instead of black so that it was more noticeable. This was also the year that the famous M&Ms slogan was coined. By 1958, nearly everyone knew that M&Ms are the chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hands.

The Modern History of M&Ms

M&Ms only continued to grow in popularity through the years, and in 1960, three new colors were added to Peanut M&Ms: green, yellow and red. In 1972, the company started a new advertising campaign that turned the iconic chocolates into anthropomorphic characters. Four years later, because of a national scare over food dye, M&Ms did away with red and began producing orange ones to replace them.

In the 1980s, M&Ms began taking trips into space as a regular part of the food carried by astronauts, and in 1984, they became the official candies of the Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles that year. During this decade, M&M Mars, Inc. also began marketing and distributing the candies internationally throughout Europe and Australia, and Almond M&Ms were introduced.

The 1990s marked yet another decade of growth for the candies. Peanut Butter M&Ms were made available in 1990, and a new version was marketed specifically for baking in 1995. The following year, Mini M&Ms were being sold in re-closable plastic tubes, which added an element of convenience.
At the turn of the century, M&Ms became known as the official candy of the new millennium because MM are the Roman numerals for 2000. Today, M&Ms remain one of the best-selling candies of all-time, and it does not appear that their popularity will decrease anytime soon.