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!

 

 

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!

 

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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

 

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!

 

 

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!

 

 

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.

 

 

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!

 

 

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!

 

 

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.

This week we’re gaining inspiration from one of the most underestimated fall ingredients—the sweet potato. While it’s unlikely that the sweet potato currently holds a spot in your collection of candy ingredients, we’re hoping you’ll give this surprisingly versatile super spud a chance to prove its worth in your candy kitchen this fall.

If sweet potato casserole is part of your family’s Thanksgiving spread, you may have thought to yourself, “this is good enough to be dessert!” That’s not just because of the gooey, toasted marshmallows on top. When roasted, sweet potatoes weep liquid which can be reduced to a naturally sweet, thick and creamy texture similar to caramel sauce. Add sugar, butter and heavy cream to make a more earthy variation of caramel or omit the dairy completely to make a vegan caramel.

 

 

Spiced Sweet Potato Caramels
Like sweet potato casserole, but better! This recipe is similar to pumpkin caramel, but with pureed sweet potato. You could use canned sweet potato puree to save time, but more importantly, consider layering this caramel with marshmallow to achieve the full sweet-potato-casserole effect. Or coat in chocolate and top with sea salt, because, why not?!

 

 

 

Dulce de leche and Sweet Potato
Though a turkey shape may be a timelier application here, we’re loving this combination of dulce de leche, sweet potato and sea salt encased in dark chocolate.

 

 

Salted Cashew Sweet Potato Fudge
Although unexpected, canned yams and cashew butter contribute to the rich flavor of this fudge recipe. Give it a try and you may find it to be a new fall favorite.

 

 

Sweet Potato Dark Chocolate Bar
Inspired by dulce de batata (a Dominican sweet potato pudding), this bean-to-bar chocolate maker uses sweet potato as substitute for animal milk in their vegan chocolate line.

 

 

Sweet Potato Caramel Sauce
This approach is not for everyone, but if you enjoy experimenting and can appreciate a very minimal ingredient list and/or want to grow your vegan customer base, this two-ingredient recipe for sweet potato caramel sauce may be worth a try. This sauce could be used for savory or sweet applications and could the base for a number of other sweet potato experiments.

Move over pumpkin and make room for the versatile sweet potato as a new favorite fall ingredient! Not only is the sweet potato a beloved addition to many holiday potlucks (shout out to sweet potato casserole and pie!), it is also a superstar in the vegan community. If you find the humble sweet potato as endearing as we do, share your sweet potato confections on RCI’s Facebook page @retailconfectioners.

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.

 

Hot cocoa bombs were all the rage last year and so far, are coming in hot for the cooler fall and winter seasons. Although considered a very indulgent beverage treat, RCI partner, Blommer Chocolate Company, has shared their version with no sugar added!

 

If you’ve ever struggled with assembling hot cocoa bombs, Blommer also covers two methods of assembling and adhering hot cocoa bombs for you to try and choose your favorite.

Click here for detailed instructions and a recipe for no-sugar-added hot cocoa bombs, plus valuable tips and tricks for making the perfect hot cocoa bomb every time!

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.

 

Pumpkin may reign king of fall, but one might say the apple is queen. October is National Apple Month and just another reason to incorporate apple into your fall product line up. Keep reading for five confections to help you celebrate National Apple Month.

 

 

Apple Pecan Caramel Bark

RCI member, Hilliard’s Chocolates, evokes all the fall feels with this bark that combines white chocolate, cinnamon oil, dried apples, caramel and cinnamon sugar for a welcome fall treat. Hilliard's Chocolates presented this idea at a past Candy Clinic. RCI members can login to view past Candy Clinic presentations like this one at retailconfectioners.org/candyclinic.

 

 

Apple Pie Truffles

Achieve the comforting flavors of warm, apple pie in a truffle with this recipe from Peter’s Chocolate.

 

 

Apple Cider Caramels

Another iconic fall flavor, apple cider brings a welcome depth of flavor to any caramel recipe. Check out  this recipe from King Arthur Baking.

 

 

Apple Pie Fudge

Not only does this fudge bring fall flavor, the addition of gingersnap cookies emulates the texture of a crisp fall apple. Click here to view recipe from Sugary Sweets.

 

 

Caramel Apple Popcorn

Caramel popcorn is reimagined for fall with dried apple chips and a dash of warm cinnamon in this recipe by Cookies and Cups.

We hope this week’s post helps you celebrate the flavors of the fall apple harvest.

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.