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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Did you know March 28 is National Something on a Stick Day? Yes, it may be another quirky food holiday but there’s no denying it is a fun excuse to invite your customers and social media followers to visit your store…as if we need another reason to eat more chocolate!
Opportunities to join in on this celebration are endless! You could go the more daring route that involves bacon or anything deep fried or try something fail-proof that you know everyone will love…chocolate-covered sandwich cookies!
If you have ever tried to insert lollipop sticks into any number of sandwich cookies, you probably felt about as efficient as a tortoise. Thanks to a quick and easy tip shared by RCI member, Kimberly Mitchell with Olympian Candies, you can pump out as many chocolate-covered sandwich cookies on a stick as your heart’s content and still have time to decorate them for National Something on a Stick Day! Inserting wooden popsicle sticks into double-stuffed sandwich cookies will make this process much easier and efficient than using lollipop or sucker sticks. With a little embellishment, wrapped in a clear candy bag and tied with a pretty little ribbon, Olympian Candies can’t keep their chocolate-covered-sandwich-cookies-on-a-stick on the shelf!
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Olympian Candies uses flower pots, foam and shredded paper
to display their cute,spring-themed sweets-on-sticks! |
Here’s some other decorating ideas for your chocolate-covered sandwich cookies.
Stay connected with RCI through Facebook for more tips and inspiration dedicated to the retail candy maker. Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Spring is the perfect time to freshen up your merchandising displays. Save money by finding new uses for old items to create eye-popping displays with “wow factor!” Old ladders, tables, or wooden crates can make for unexpected and memorable ways to display your confections.
Before you spend any money, take a look at items currently used in your store, tucked away in storage or even at your home that could be repurposed or upcycled with a fresh coat of paint. Next, visit a local flea market and use your imagination to search for anything that could be a vesicle to display your products.
Take tips from RCI’s 2016 Merchandising Essentials course when seeking display pieces that help satisfy one or more of the following five design principles:
- Focal Point - Every display or category/department should have a focal point or a center of activity, interest or attention.
Old windows can be reimagined to create a stunning focal point as a glass-enclosed display case. Photo property ofre-store.org |
- Balance (symmetrical or asymmetrical) – Symmetrical balance is created by repeating the reverse of a design (or a mirror image) on the opposite side of the vertical axis. Symmetrical balance is considered formal, sophisticated and easy to visually digest. Asymmetrical balance is more informal, yet dynamic, achieving balance through contrast, using different elements that have equal weight.
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An open trunk or small suitcase can be repurposed into shelving to create the perfect opportunity for a symmetrical display. Check outremodelaholic.comfor tutorial on how to create a bookshelf (pictured above) out of an antique trunk.
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Upcycle tired tables with vibrant paint to create an asymmetrical balance display, like the ones fromresene.compictured above.
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- Pyramid Merchandising – This principle is achieved by creating a pyramid of product, with the top being the focal point that attracts attention. This is a very effective and foolproof merchandising technique.
Here's an example of pyramid merchandising created by repurposing an old ladder as a shelf. Learn how to build your own by viewing a tutorial at lovegrowswild.com
- Repetition - Create a striking and clean display through the repetition of many of the same or similar products.
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The repetition of inexpensive, painted wooden crates used bychickaniddy.commakes an impact as a wall display.
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- Harmony – A pleasing combination or arrangement of different things will make your customer feel comfortable and at ease.
With an open mind and a little elbow grease, you can breathe new life into old furniture and flea market finds to create merchandising displays that will get your customers saying “WOW!” without breaking the bank.
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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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Posted By RCI,
Friday, January 6, 2017
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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As we welcome the New Year at RCI, we welcome the opportunity to celebrate RCI’s 100th anniversary. During our year-long celebration of this association’s rich history, we aim to reflect on the past, while looking to the future of this sweet industry.
In thumbing through historical RCI documents, we discovered an article from one of RCI’s monthly newsletters that is surprisingly fitting for kicking off 2017!
In this excerpt from event speaker and vice president of ad agency Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn, Inc. (BBDO), Whit Hobbs reflects on the 1950s and helps his audience of candy makers look to the “sizzling sixties” to inspire fresh, new ideas.
Notice the date: it’s Thursday, June 11, 1959, which means that you are standing on the threshold of a new decade and a new world, the Sizzling Sixties. Behind you lie nearly all of the fabulous rapidly fading fifties.
The decade of the superhighway and the super market. The family room and the TV dinner. The Sputnik and the Beatnik. The greatest decade of CHANGE that there has ever been in the history of the world. Every day during this decade, this whirling-dervish world of ours has made another complete revolution around the sun. Day after day, revolution after revolution. Revolutions in the way people live. In the way they shop. In what they buy. And what they eat. And what they drink. And what they think.
Look around you. Notice how completely the world has changed. Markets have changed. Diets have changed. Habits have changed. And money is in new pockets.
Most of all people have changed. Notice that people are taller than they used to be. And healthier. And smarter. And savvier. And more sophisticated. With more varied appetites. And more cultivated tastes. People are growing up faster. And staying young longer. They’re becoming harder to satisfy. Harder to fool. Easier to bore. Hungrier for novelty and news. They’re constantly reaching for something better. Something fresh. Something new. And they’re constantly finding it.
My point is this: your customers have changed more than you and your products have changed. What an opportunity you have in the next few months and in the next few years to throw away the old rules and the old yardsticks…in favor of new appeals and new looks and new products and new ideas. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY TO STOP PLAYING FOLLOW THE LEADER. To stop “doing it this way because this is the way we’ve always done it.” What an opportunity to reach for something better – something fresh and new – and find it.
You know what I’d do if I were you?
I’d make candy that you LOVE to make. And I’d sell it the same way. With pride. With conviction. With enthusiasm. And, most of all, with imagination. And with every piece of candy I sold, I would also sell the IDEA of eating candy. The REWARDS OF CANDY. The fun, the energy, the nutrition, the convenience.
If I were a candy manufacturer heading into the 1960s, I’d make my products timely and talked about and tantalizing. Candy is strictly for pleasure, and I’d have fun with my products and with my customers. I’d tie in with every fad and fancy I could find.
- Everybody is on a fortune cookie kick these days. I’d bring out Fortune Candies, with corny, crazy fortunes on them.
- I’d do what the cosmetic people are doing. They bring out shade promotions: Rue de la Pink and French Spice and Red Tape. I’d bring out taste promotions: exciting one-shots that are here today and eaten up tomorrow.
- I’d bring out special summer candy…to be chilled and served ice cold. Bought in the freezer department in a supermarket.
- Why isn’t candy on every restaurant menu as a dessert? Why isn’t it packed in TV dinners? Why isn’t there dry candy, like dry wine and dry beer?
- I’d find candy boxes that turn themselves into toys or lunch boxes or something. Inventive packaging has sold my wife one helluva lot of (ugh) cottage cheese. And she buys vitamins the same way: to end up with a handsome jar. She buys soap in plastic bags just to wind up with the bags. You’d like my wife.
- Give her Monday bars and Tuesday bars and Wednesday bars to put in lunch boxes and she’ll buy a whole mess of ‘em.
- Give her a box of candy for a long motor trip: each kid gets one of the small pieces every 50 miles, a larger piece for every 100 miles and a special red piece every time you cross a state line.
- Give her a big bag of un-birthday candy to serve tonight at an un-birthday party…just for the fun of it, because it isn’t someone’s birthday.
These are just some of the things I might possibly do, if I were you. Time to think big and be big. Time to think new and be new.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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We've curated the most-read tips from 2016, to pinpoint topics that are most important to candy makers.
From troubleshooting tips to sky-high merchandising inspiration, plus a customer service must-read, the following posts deliver quick and easily executed tips to simply the lives of confectioners, like you!
Suffer from sweaty sea salt caramels? Take tips from fellow candy makers and RCI members on how to avoid this common problem.
Get step-by-step instructions for creating this eye-catching truffle tree.
RCI MEMBER BONUS: Click here to login to RCI’s member site and snag three variations of ganache recipes on page 9 of RCI’s Kettle Talk magazine.
Nobody likes hard, dried-out marshmallows! Keep your ‘mallows soft and pillowy all year long with this popular tip of the week.
An oldie, but a goodie, this throwback from 2012 covers four customer service basics that are too important not to review with your team on a regular basis.
Bloom is easily identified as one of the most common problems facing candy makers. No surprise, this post tops the list with common causes of chocolate bloom, as well as simple solutions.
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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.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Did you know the day after Christmas is National Candy Cane Day? But don’t wait until December 26, celebrate this iconic holiday treat all month! In this throwback tip from 2013, we’ve shared five creative and easy ways (plus a couple new ideas) to incorporate candy canes into your product mix and presentation for the holidays.
Candy Cane Tree
Forty-four boxes of candy canes were used to make this impressive candy cane tree! Make an impact in your holiday window display or size it down for an eye-catching centerpiece for a tabletop display. Click here to view a step-by-step tutorial.
Candy Cane Sweetheart Pops
With a box of mini candy canes, a lollipop stick and a bit of added heat, mould candy canes into hearts to frame your favorite holiday bark or dark chocolate. Plus, with the right color ribbon, this could easily double as a Valentine treat and a good way to use up leftover candy canes. Click here to view recipe.
Candy Cane Marshmallow
Sold separately or aside your own blend of hot cocoa mix, these festive peppermint marshmallows would add a pop of color to your shelf when packaged in clear candy bags. Click here to view recipe.
Candy Cane Rudolph
Embellish these antlered treats with white jelly beans and black sugar pearls for eyes and red Skittles for Rudolph’s signature red nose.
Candy Cane Bark Popcorn
Save the plain popcorn for decorating the Christmas tree! Give out samples of candy-sweet popcorn bark to your guests and watch it pop off the shelf! Click here for more details.
If you have creative candy cane ideas to share, leave us a comment below!
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Turn heads with this bountiful display, which can be filled with chocolates, chocolate-dipped fruits and other fall favorites. Remind shoppers through merchandising that this tasteful cornucopia would make for the perfect dressing for their holiday table or a welcome and thoughtful hostess gift.
Chocolate Cornucopia
Materials needed:
• (1) 12” wicker cornucopia
• (1) one-gallon plastic storage bag
• roll of tape
• pastry brush or latex glove
• vegetable brush
Ingredients:
• Peter’s Lenoir™ semisweet chocolate
• non-toxic, fresh salal leaves*
• gold and copper luster dust (optional)
*Commonly known as lemon leaves. Available through floral supply shops.
Directions:
Cornucopia
Cover outside of 12” wicker cornucopia with a one gallon plastic storage bag, fitting snugly; secure with tape. Using a pastry brush or latex-gloved hand, apply three thick coats of Peter’s Lenoir™ semisweet chocolate over the surface, allowing each application to dry before adding the next. Remove wicker cornucopia; peel away and discard bag.
Chocolate Leaves
Scrub non-toxic fresh salal leaves* with vegetable brush; rinse thoroughly and air dry. Use a small metal spatula to coat the back side of leaves with Peter’s Lenoir™ semisweet chocolate. Clean edges of excess chocolate. Chill until dry. Grasp leaf near the stem, gently pulling it away.
Decorating the Cornucopia
Trim ragged edge of the open end. Attach large chocolate leaves along open end, overlapping and extending them slightly over the edge. Use increasingly smaller leaves until entire top and sides of cornucopia are covered. Brush with gold and copper luster dust (optional).
Learn techniques like this and others at RCI’s Chocolate Boot Camp in Waterbury, Connecticut February 20-23, 2017. Register now at retailconfectioners.org/bootcamp.
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Posted By RCI,
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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A tower of truffles or “truffle tree” is a stylish way for your customers to serve truffles to a large group. The Truffle Tree also makes for an eye-catching merchandising display for your retail shop. It is a big ticket item that can add nice revenue to your store’s sales. With a little advance planning, building the tree can be relatively easy to execute.
Here you will find a list of materials needed and step-by-step instructions for creating this showpiece as provided by RCI member, Annedore's Fine Chocolates. RCI members: Click here to log on to RCI’s member site and view three variations of ganache recipes on page 9 of 2014’s 3rd quarter issue of Kettle Talk.
For ease of construction, un-dipped ganache balls may be stored in the freezer. Simply follow the instructions below for thawing and dipping the ganache balls and you are ready to build a tree on demand.
Materials Needed:
- Truffles (see recipes below)
- Silicone mats
- Plastic wrap
- Foam block
- Parchment paper or aluminum foil (optional)
- Round toothpicks
- Tempered chocolate
- Foam cone
- Wrapping paper or fabric (preferably coordinating with the color of your truffles)
- Flathead pins
- Scissors
- Ribbon or tree topper (optional)
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Prepare truffle centers using your own ganache recipe or see recipes below. Pipe ganache onto silicone mats. Cover the mats with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours. Transfer mats to the freezer for 12 hours. Remove mats from the freezer and pop out ganache balls (Note: Balls may be returned to the freezer for future use). Cover balls with plastic wrap and allow them to come to room temperature.
- Cover a foam block with parchment paper or aluminum foil, so it can be reused. Glue a toothpick into each ganache ball by, first, dipping one end of the toothpick into tempered chocolate and then inserting that end into the center of the flat side of the ganache ball. Allow toothpick to set up firmly in the ganache ball.
- Once the toothpick is firmly set in the ganache ball you are ready to dip each ganache ball in tempered chocolate. Dip each ball carefully and then insert tooth-picked end of the ball into the block of foam. This will allow for perfect-looking, uniform truffles to create your truffle tree. Allow chocolate to set up. Truffles may be decorated while standing in the block of foam.
- Before you begin to build your tree, first, wrap the foam cone completely with wrapping paper or fabric – secure with flathead pins, as needed.
- Beginning at the bottom of the cone, push the tooth-picked truffles into the cone working your way around the cone to create the first row. On the second row, stagger the truffles by placing them in the open spaces created by the first row. Carefully work your way up the cone row by row until the entire cone is covered in truffles. Toothpicks may need to be cut as you reach the top of the cone.
- Crown the top of your tree by inserting a tooth-picked truffle vertically on the top of the cone. Experiment with different tree toppers, such as a large bow or a chocolate initial or number (birthday idea). Use your imagination.
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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Photo credit (bottom left to right):2015 RCI Fall Candy Clinic,Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates,
DIY Lemonade Stand,LilLuna.com, Lemonade Sign,Burton Avenue
Every kid knows that setting up a lemonade stand in the front yard is an easy way to earn some added spending money for the summer. Why can’t the same idea be incorporated into your retail shop to increase sales this summer?
Draw inspiration from this iconic summer enterprise for your next merchandisingtheme. First, brainstorm ideas to display your lemon-flavored treats. Something as simple as draping one of your existing displaytablewith a swatch of lemon-clad fabric and accessorizing with fresh lemons and a pitcher can set the tone for your lemonade-themed display. If you, or someone you know, is handy with a hammer and nails, erect an actual lemonade stand with scrap wood or old pallets. Don't forget, a hand-painted “lemonade” sign is a must! Click the following links to view DIY tutorials for theLemonade Stand from LilLuna.comand theOld-Fashioned Lemonade Sign from Burton Avenue.
Take your lemonade stand to the next level by inviting a local children’s organization, like the Girl Scouts or Boys & Girls Clubs, to actually sell lemonade at your shop as a fundraiser, alongside your lemon candies, of course. Maximize the opportunity for PR, but submitting a press release to the local media and encourage the kids and their families to invite relatives and friends to visit your shop and support their cause.
RCI member, Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates of Evansville, Indiana shared this great idea, including the products they incorporated into their lemonade stand, atCandy Clinicduring the 2015 Fall Regional Conference in Maine. Members canclick hereto login and view a video of the presentation by Marjorie Libs of Stephen Libs Finer Chocolates on our website.
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