Sweet Tooth Know-how.

With the holidays right around the corner (hate to push it, but its true!) there are quite a few articles popping up out there regarding candy. Where it got its beginnings, how people feel about it and what’s new out there.

Most of us like candy in one form or another…whether it be chewy taffies, traditional hard mints or that sinful melt in your mouth chocolate. Along with that love for the sweet stuff tends to come that feeling of guilt when we indulge. Well, take a deep sigh of relief and a small bite! Sweets do have their place in our lives and in a well-balanced diet. Albeit a tiny place, it’s a place. No reason to deny yourself a small treat occasionally…remember that last word…occasionally.

In a recent survey given by the National Confectioners Association, 90\% of 1000 adults surveyed ranked sharing family traditions a very important part of their life and candy was typically involved in these traditions. So, no need to deny the family of that traditional homemade fudge at the holidays. Just try to keep ‘Uncle You-Know-Who’ from hiding away in the upstairs bathroom with the whole container!

Health concerns have not gone un-noticed by the retail industry. It used to be that Halloween was when you would typically see the bite-sized candy bars and things of that nature, but if you look around the next time you are fighting your way through the store, you will see that many of the old favorites now come in bite-sized re-sealable packages. They want to get the message across that you can still enjoy a bite here and there, just not necessarily the entire package in one sitting.

A few new 2005 products, of the estimated 1500 that actually make it to the shelves:

• Just Born Inc. have introduced the traditional marshmallow Peep, but now it’s a 3 oz. size ‘chick’ and comes in a hallow milk chocolate egg. Also, decorating kits for the four major holidays; using CakeMate decorating gels.


• Brown & Haley introduced Candy Cane Roca in its Roca collection. Its peppermint candy blended with the taste of Roca buttercrunch toffee.
  
• Sterling Truffle Bar out of San Francisco has seven different truffle bars in two sizes. They also hand-paint colorful themes for Valentines and the winter holidays.

4imprint has added a variety of new items to help gear up for the 05 Holiday season. Here is a couple and there are plenty more to come.

• M&M’s in .5 oz., 1 oz., 2 oz. and 4 oz sizes. You can mix and match 2 color choices for one low price.
  
• Another inexpensive option is our Candy Coated Sunflower Seeds. They have just the right balance of sweet and salty!
  
• Looking for something a bit more executive? The Classic Turtles & Toffee Gift Box is sure to fit the bill.

Keep checking back…more to come…now go brush your teeth!