Football season isn't just a time for fans to gather and cheer for their favorite teams—it’s also a sweet opportunity for candy makers and chocolatiers to get creative. Game-day excitement will continue to grow until Super Bowl Sunday in February, creating a growing demand for football-themed sweets that add a special touch to each gathering. Whether it’s for tailgating, Super Bowl parties, or just family gatherings to watch the game, football-inspired treats appeal to both children and adults alike. Keep reading for fun and inspiring ideas that are sure to make shoppers cheer!

Football-Shaped Chocolates

Rich, detailed moulds can capture the look of a classic pigskin football, complete with stitches. Consider offering various sizes, from bite-sized treats to larger centerpiece chocolates that fans can break open during halftime. RCI member Peterbrooke Chocolatier, for example, offers life-sized chocolate footballs filled with their signature chocolate-covered butter popcorn. As if this realistic chocolate football from RCI member Annedore’s Fine Chocolates wasn’t impressive enough, we love how they package it with a pretty branded ribbon in their team colors.

Transform your chocolate Easter eggs into footballs by simply piping the football stitching with white chocolate.  This rocky road football by RCI member See’s Candies is a real showstopper!

Photo credit: Bon Bons Chocolatier

Tailgate Essentials

You don’t have to be a devoted football fan to love this sporty merchandising display by RCI member Bon Bons Chocolatier! Not only do they showcase a variety of sizes of chocolate footballs, teaming up their football-themed treats with other cute tailgate essentials, such as a Game Day platter and fun puffy vest koozies, makes us want to host a football watch party just because!

Photo credit: Wockenfuss Candy Co., Fowler’s Chocolate Company

Team-Colored Candy

Fans love repping their team colors, and that can easily translate into candies and chocolates. Always a hit for snacking at football parties, jelly beans, gummies, or chocolate-covered pretzels can also be used to sport your local team colors. There’s no surprise which team Baltimore-based Wockenfuss Candies is backing with these vibrant purple non-pareils! RCI member Fowler’s Chocolate Company developed their own popcorn mix complete with mini chocolate footballs, chocolate drizzle and team-colored sprinkles.

Photo credit: Vande Walle Candies, Li-Lac Chocolates

Chocolate Charcuterie Boards

RCI member, Vande Walle’s Candies has enjoyed success with their team-inspired chocolate charcuterie boards. Read RCI’s blog post for tips on building your own chocolate charcuterie board. RCI member Li-Lac Chocolates packs four varieties of sweet treats into a wooden tray to complete their chocolate football platter.

 

Photo credit: Just Candy Store, WH Candy

Themed Candy Bars

Another option is offering football-themed chocolate bars. Create custom wrappers for your own chocolate bars with football designs and clever sayings or better yet, chocolates that incorporate ingredients inspired by stadium snacks—pretzels, caramel corn or peanuts.

This social media post by RCI member Bruce’s Candy Kitchen is a nice reminder not to limit yourself to professional football teams. You may see just as much support, if not more, for high school and college football teams in your community.

Take advantage of football season by giving buyers a reason to spend on game day. Build a football-themed display by incorporating your local team’s colors (or black and white stripes will work too) and a chalkboard with spatterings of X’s, O’s and arrows…leading them straight to their next purchase!

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Halloween season is back, bringing with it all the fun and spookiness we love! If you already make chocolate-covered treats, we’ve got some exciting ideas that require little effort and just a few extra touches. Here are five quick and easy ways to dress up your favorite chocolate-covered treats for a spooktacular Halloween!

Photo credit: Graham’sChocolates/Instagram

Ghost Truffles

RCI member Graham’s Chocolates crafts the spookiest cute treat each Halloween: ghost truffles! A hauntingly delicious dark chocolate ganache wrapped in a sweet white chocolate shell. Perfect for a delightful fright!

Photo credit: @beautyanddasweetz/TikTok

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Witches Brooms

Embrace the spooky spirit of Halloween with delightful chocolate-covered strawberry witches’ brooms! These fun treats feature a fresh strawberry dipped in milk chocolate and topped with a chocolate Cheerio® and drizzled with more chocolate and finished with a mini pretzel stick, perfectly resembling broomsticks. Click here to watch a step-by-step video.

Photo credit: Water’sEdge Chocolates/Facebook

Monster Toes

Get ready for a fun and creepy Halloween treat with these giant monster toes! RCI member Water's Edge Chocolates transforms chocolate-covered Twinkies^® into delightfully grotesque monster toes, complete with an edible chocolate toenail and chocolate jimmies to look like crazy hair. Perfect for Halloween parties or just for some spooky fun, these giant toes are sure to bring laughs and tasty bites!

Photo credit: The BearfootBaker

Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies

Turn classic chocolate-covered sandwich cookies into festive pumpkins! Simply dip cookies in orange chocolate and decorate as you like. We love the fun, whimsical touches used to decorate these pumpkins, from the misshapen googly eyes to the pecan stems. The possibilities are endless if you look at what you have on hand. Stick them on lollipop sticks for easy handling!

Photo credit: LikeMother Like Daughter

Frankenstein Crisp Rice Treats

Give your Rice Krispie® treats a spooky makeover! Dip treats in green chocolate and once set, add milk chocolate for hair, a jagged mouth and googly eyes. Add mini pretzel sticks to sides for his bolts.

These fun and easy ideas will add a delightful twist to your Halloween offerings. Make sure to share photos of your Halloween treats on social media and on your e-commerce site for greater exposure and sales potential. So grab your supplies, get creative and enjoy a sweet Halloween!

Crave more?Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

The wedding industry represents a sweet opportunity for confectioners. Offering ready-to-gift wedding favors will help eliminate one more item from the bride’s long list of to-do’s before she says “I do!” By focusing on personalization and packaging, your wedding favors are sure to stand out and WOW the wedding party and their guests.

Sources: The Perfect Blend Coffee Favors; The Paper Shoppe CA/Etsy; Champagne Gummy Bear Favors, Beau Coup; Caramel Apple Favors, Evermine; Mint To Be Favors, The Kraft Moon/Etsy; Sweet Chocolate Heart Favors, Little Indie Studio/Etsy

Personalized

Personalization can help achieve a greater impact without having to spend a fortune on materials. Print directly onto craft paper treats bags or purchase printable labels. Your local craft store will have a variety of paper punches in various shapes and sizes from a 2-inch circle punch to an ornate gift tag punch.

RCI member, Dietsch Brothers, uses a Cricut^® cutting machine to create personalized tags to accompany their wedding favors. Dietsch Brothers offers a simple order form for event tags. The order form includes options for tag shapes and six choices of messages. Clients can further customize their tags by adding their names and/or wedding date, in addition to choosing between cream or white card stock, as well as the color of text to match their wedding colors.

If you’re not interested in purchasing equipment, Canva is a great alternative for creating professional-looking custom designs even if you have zero graphic design experience. This user-friendly platform offers thousands of custom templates and stock images, as well as easy-to-follow tutorials claiming to make you a “design pro in minutes.” Canva offers free and paid subscriptions. 

Sources: Merci Beaucoup gift box, Mon Joli Paquet/Etsy; Hot Chocolate Tube, Custom Favours/Etsy, Mini Popcorn Boxes, Erickson Design/Etsy; Macaron Boxes, Cookiebox Store/Etsy; Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans Favor, Evermine

Packaging

Even if you offer individually wrapped confections, a winning wedding favor is all about the presentation. The right packaging can help create a memorable way to commemorate the newlyweds and thank their guests for partaking in their nuptial ceremony. From sleek and modern to playful and crafty, there is packaging to fit every couple and every budget.

Sleek folded boxes in matte white or clear acetate tied with a satin bow, offer a luxurious touch. For a more creative and playful approach, hot chocolate mix can be packaged in food-safe tubes. Adding personal touches to ordinary packaging (like the mini popcorn boxes and coffee cups with customized sleeves pictured above) makes it feel elevated and fun.

Together with personalization, classic or creative packaging could help soon-to-be-wed couples fall in love with your wedding favors. Share your creative wedding favor ideas in the comments below.

Crave more? If you like what you read here, look for the "Subscribe now" box on the right to enter your email address and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's Tip of the Week blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices.  Follow us on Facebook.

There’s little doubt this fall season is going to look very different for many families and individuals. Thanks to COVID-19, many of our favorite traditional fall events will be canceled or, if not, done very differently.

Here’s five ideas from RCI members for generating sales by creating memorable experiences for families this fall.

Candy-Making Classes: Two Ways

Hosting virtual candy-making classes is a great way to engage with consumers. RCI member, Yelibelly Chocolates, has developed a series of at-home candy-making classes which can be experienced as a prerecorded video or live Zoom call. Further direction can be shared with customers after purchasing a supply kit containing the needed ingredients and supplies.

Known for their in-person candy-making classes for kids, RCI member, PeterbrookeChocolatier, has been able to continue in-person classes by offering small groups of families and/or close friends to take private classes together after local mandates allowed. This approach limits potential exposure to participants by individuals outside their inner circle and creates a more comfortable environment for local patrons to do something fun outside their homes.

Socially Distant Outdoor Events

Is your annual fall festival cancelled this year? Use your creativity to dream up a socially distant outdoor event to generate foot traffic at your store. RCI member Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum & Candy Emporium plans to host their annual outdoor pumpkin painting party (albeit practicing social distancing) and treat kids dressed in their Halloween costumes with a complimentary goodie bag.

Another idea could include hosting a family movie night in the parking lot by hanging a white sheet on the side of your building and setting up a projector. RCI member, MarshmallowMBA plans to partner with local churches to gain exposure during Trunk-or-Treat events in their community.

DIY Take-Home Kits

Make it easy for shoppers to create special memories for their families. RCI member Stever’s Candies had success over the summer by selling s’mores and ice cream sundae take-home kits, each packed with all the sweet ingredients needed and bundled together for a quick, grab-and-go treat or an easy, yet thoughtful, gift.

Themed Virtual Tastings

Hosting a virtual chocolate tasting may be just the ticket for safely connecting with chocolate lovers near and far. Incorporating themes will make the experience more memorable and potentially lead to customers ordering multiple tastings. RCI member, Blommer Chocolate Company, suggests themes that hypothetically whisk participants away to a virtual vacation destination or even highlight your home base. Check out this video from Blommer Chocolate's Rose Potts for more inspiration on creating a successful virtual chocolate tasting.

For a more local vibe, source local fall produce to highlight as part of your virtual tasting. We think this recipe for apple cider caramels from King Arthur Baking Company would be the perfect addition to a fall harvest themed tasting.

Virtual Factory Tour

Pique the curiosities of children and parents alike by sharing virtual tours of your candy kitchen. After closing their factory to tours, RCI member SnowflakeChocolates has posted a virtual tour of their facility on social media as well as behind-the-scenes videos of how they make chocolate-covered Oreos and maple fudge. After seeing all the yummy confections in the making, invite followers to get it fresh by placing orders online or in-store. 

After a popular children’s YouTube sensation toured their facility, RCI member Boehm’sCandies created an Eat-Along Kit including the confections featured in the tour. If you’re looking to take your virtual tour to the next level, feature your signature confections in the video tour and sell them as a bundle for consumers to purchase and enjoy while they watch your virtual tour.

Businesses that thrive this fall will be the ones that are intentional about creating a safe and comfortable environment for consumers and their families to not only enjoy their products, but create memorable experiences their patrons won’t soon forget. Here's wishing you a sweet and successful fall season!

Crave more? If you like what you read here, look for the "Subscribe now" box on the right to enter your email address and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's Tip of the Week blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices.

• Start by wiping away any dirt with a clean towel and discard unwanted mushy or moldy berries.
• Gently submerge berries in a solution of cold water and non-pasteurized apple cider vinegar (use approximately 3 tablespoons for every one gallon of water) for five minutes. The acidity of the vinegar will kill spores and bacteria on the fresh berries.
• Next, place the strawberries in a colander to drain excess water before air drying berries in a single layer on top of a dry towel.
• Once the strawberries are dry, they can be placed in their original containers, which have since been cleaned and dried as well, until they are ready to dip.