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Posted By RCI,
Sunday, January 19, 2020
Updated: Thursday, January 21, 2021
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Looking to celebrate this Valentine’s Day in a big way, but with little extra effort? If you already make chocolate-covered sandwich cookies or pretzels, the following ideas will require very little, if any, additional ingredients and minimal effort. Keep reading for five quick and easy tricks to make your existing treats #adorbs this Valentine’s Day. “PAW-some” Puppy Pretzels Package these adorable pretzel treats with a printable tag that says “Puppy Love” or “You’re PAW-some!” and watch these puppies leap off the shelves. Credit: For Modern Kids Love Bug Sandwich Cookies All you need is some red confectioners coating, dark chocolate and candy eyes to transform your chocolate-covered sandwich cookies into lady bugs for Valentine’s Day. Credit: Cakegirls® Sweet Emoji Sandwich Cookies It’s okay to get emotional about how cute and easy these emoji-inspired cookies are. Dip in yellow confectioners’ coating and candy eyes and heart sprinkles. This particular example from Cakegirls® used an edible ink marker to draw the faces, but you could also pipe expressions with dark chocolate. Credit: In The Kids Kitchen "Beary" Cute Sandwich Cookies Pour on the cuteness by transforming chocolate-covered sandwich into bears. Use chocolate wafers for the ears and pipe on light pink confectioners’ coating for the snout and a heart sprinkle for the mouth. Credit: Sweet Simple Stuff Peanut Butter Cookie Broken Hearts Why mend a broken heart when you can eat? Transform everyone’s favorite peanut butter sandwich cookie by cutting it in half diagonally and covering it in red coating and a drizzle of chocolate. Consumers are sure to fall in love with these adorable treats this Valentine's Day! Make sure to share plenty of photos of your Valentine’s Day treats on social media and your e-commerce site for greater exposure and sales potential. If you plan to make a small batch of these fun treats, let consumers know they’re available for a limited-time only in your social media posts and your online store. This will cover you if you do sell out (we hope you do!) and also encourage shoppers to buy by creating a sense of urgency. Make note of the quantities you made and sold to help determine whether to bring them back this time next year. 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 for even more sweet inspiration.
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Chocolate
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Oreos
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Valentine's Day
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Updated: Monday, April 27, 2020
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If you sell chocolate-covered strawberries for the holidays, more specifically Valentine’s Day, and have found yourself working from sunrise to sunset to keep up with demand, this tip is for you.
RCI member, Luisa Chocolatiere shares her pro tips for extending the shelf-life of these delicate fruit confections to best avoid working yourself ragged while preparing for one of the biggest candy holidays of the year.
1.) Clear communication
Although this first step will not affect the longevity of your strawberries, it will help you better prepare for the holiday. Requiring advanced orders for chocolate-covered strawberries helps create expectations for your production needs. Clear communication to your customer base is key to ensure their expectations are met too. The beginning of January is a great time to start to taking orders for Valentine's Day.
2.) Gently clean and air dry
The way you clean your berries could be contributing to unwanted mold. Follow these step-by-step instructions to minimize moisture and bacteria.
- 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.
3.) Chilled storage
To keep chocolate-covered strawberries overnight without the harmful effects of refrigeration, place dipped strawberries on containers, which are on top of gel ice packs and they can store for up to 48 hours.
These tips may seem simple, but they have the potential to completely transform the way you operate your business leading up to Valentine’s Day—for the better. Now with all that extra time saved up, you may be able to devote more of it to other areas of your business or spend it with family and, hopefully, get more sleep on the morning of Valentine’s Day! Let us know in the comments below what you plan to do with the time you’ll save with this tip!
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.
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Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Member Ideas
Shelf Life
Valentine's Day
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Updated: Monday, April 27, 2020
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While consumers are busy dreaming of sugar plum fairies and candy canes, the second largest retail season is not far off in many retailers’ minds.
This week we're sharing quick tips to jump start your plans for Valentine's Day, with actionable ideas to help you stand out from the competition.
Ring in the New Year with Red
Starting the day after New Year’s, begin the transition to Valentine’s Day by incorporating red into your retail space, website and social media pages. While everyone else is talking about New Year’s resolutions, make your e-blasts and direct mail stand out with gift ideas for Valentine’s Day, keeping consistent with a red color scheme.
Encourage Pre-Orders
Offer coupons, discounts or special add-ons to customers who place their orders in advance to aid in your holiday preparations and lock down sales.
Pre-orders are especially helpful if you plan to sell chocolate-covered strawberries. Since this delicate fruit confection has a very limited shelf-life, requiring advance orders will help identify expectations for your production needs. Clear communication to your customer base is key to ensure their expectations are met too.
Communicate Clear Last-Ship Dates
According to a survey conducted by Discover Card, only 10% of men wait until Valentine’s Day to purchase gifts, while 65% of shoppers make their purchases the week before Valentine’s Day. Use a call-to-action, such as, “order by February 4 to receive your gift by Valentine’s Day,” as a way to establish clear deadlines and avoid disappointment from procrastinators.
Designed to make your business stand out and create an easy and stress-free shopping experience, these simple tips can help you increase sales. Let us know in the comments below, if you have any red-hot tips for Valentine’s Day!
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Candy Holidays
Marketing
Merchandising
Valentine's Day
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Retailers have been using mass displays as a successful visual merchandising technique for many years. According to Chron.com, “mass displays group a large quantity of merchandise together in one place to attract attention to it.” You may see this technique used in grocery stores and in other retail settings today, because it attracts attention and can be used to create a sense of urgency. If you’ve been in the business for any length of time, creating a sense of urgency is important considering many shoppers will wait until the last-minute to purchase gifts for their loved ones.
In 1960, RCI published an article written by Harry P. Cole, a sales associate for Paper Goods Company, featuring the surprising results this merchandising technique had on one of his retail clients.
Use Mass Displays
In making displays of your candy, both in the store and in your show windows, try using mass displays. Last February, one of our good roadside customers was unfortunate enough to have to go to the hospital and he was out for about five weeks starting January 15. The manager of this particular store, quite a smart, bright young lady, always wanted to make big displays of Valentine’s Day hearts. This was her opportunity. Instead of having hearts distributed all over the store in various places singly, she had large groups of them on tables. Each type was packed one on top of another with the top heart opened on a display stand to show the contents, prices and weight. Her boss was an old timer and when he came back shortly after Valentine’s Day and learned of the type of displays that were made, he started to raise the devil, but when he saw the figures he sang a different tune. The Valentine’s Day sales in that store were 20 percent over the previous year and the average in the area was only about a five percent increase.
Since making their debut shortly after Christmas, your Valentine’s Day displays may have seen shoppers come and go for a little over a month. Consider making some space for a fresh, new, attention-grabbing display, grouping your inventory of beautiful heart-shaped boxes near the front of the store or near the register. Keep in mind, the location of a mass display is important. This merchandising technique will be much more successful in a highly visible area of your retail space. If your space or inventory doesn’t allow for a mass display this Valentine’s Day, it’s not too late to incorporate one into your Easter and Mother's Day. Here's wishing you a successful Valentine's Day!
Learn more about how to build your sweet business and help us celebrate our 100th anniversary at RCI's Annual Convention & Industry Expo in Chicagoland, Illinois June 12-16, 2017. Click here if you would like us to send you an email notification when registration opens. Not a member? Learn what makes membership with RCI so sweet!
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Displays
From the Archives
Holidays
Marketing
Merchandising
Valentine's Day
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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As many consumers begin dreaming of sugar plum fairies and candy canes, the second largest retail season is not far off in many retailers’ minds.
Get ahead of the competition for Valentine’s Day 2017, with the following marketing tactics to increase sales from early-bird shoppers.
Ring in the New Year with Red
Starting the day after New Year’s, begin the transition to Valentine’s Day by incorporating red into your retail space, website and social media pages. While everyone else is talking about New Year’s resolutions, make your e-blasts and direct mail stand out with gift ideas for Valentine’s Day, keeping consistent with a red color scheme.
Set aside time to prepare your marketing materials as far in advance as possible, so you aren't stressed about it the week before Christmas. Schedule e-blasts and social media posts ahead of time and have direct mail printed and ready to go out after Christmas.
With your early promotional materials prepared in advance, you can spend the end of December and early January to work on targeted materials for last-minute shoppers.
Encourage Pre-Orders
Offer coupons, discounts or special add-ons to customers who place their orders in advance to aid in your holiday preparations and lock down sales.
Communicate Clear Last-Ship Dates
According to a survey conducted by Discover Card, only 10% of men wait until Valentine’s Day to purchase gifts, while 65% of shoppers make their purchases the week before Valentine’s Day. Use a call-to-action, such as, “order by February 3 to receive your gift by Valentine’s Day,” as a way to establish clear deadlines and avoid disappointment from procrastinators.
Tags:
Colors
email marketing
Holidays
Marketing
Merchandising
sales
Valentine's Day
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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For many, the truffle is the ultimate chocolatey confection. Made with high-quality chocolate and cream, traditional truffle centers are minimally processed offering rich flavor and a velvety mouthfeel.
Try a variation to the traditional truffle recipe, which will quickly become a new customer favorite.
For a light and airy melt-in-your-mouth truffle center, whip the cooled truffle center in a mixer until it becomes fluffy. With the incorporation of air, the color will become noticeable lighter. The final density will be approximately 0.75 gm/Ml giving your truffles a completely different texture, while keeping the same great flavor.
This is an excerpt from the first quarter issue of Kettle Talk in 2014. Click here to view the full article which offers more tips on making delicious meltaways and truffles as written by Randy Hofberger of R&D Candy Consultants, LLC.
Tags:
Candy Making
Chocolate
Chocolate Production
Holidays
Ideas
Recipe
Seasonal
Specialty
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