For over 100 years, retail candy makers and their suppliers have counted on Retail Confectioners International (RCI) to help them grow their sweet businesses. This week we’re highlighting RCI’s 2025-2030 Merchandising & Promotion Calendar as a resource to help with your planning through 2030.

Use this resource as a quick guide for social media scheduling, as well as retail store merchandising and marketing promotions. You may even use it as a reference when ordering ingredients and supplies, approving staff time-off requests around the holidays and for scheduling routine maintenance.

Although this valuable resource is normally exclusive to RCI members, we’re making it a FREE downloadable to all our blog followers. Click here to download the 2025-2030 Merchandising & Promotion Calendar. RCI members can find other resources like this by logging on to the RCI member site and accessing the Templates and Tools within the Business Tool Kit. The Annual Buying Calendar is another member resource, which suggests the best times of the year to order particular items to maximize production and profit throughout the year.

Happy planning candy makers! If you’re not a member of RCI, but are interested in learning more about the benefits of membership click here to request more information and get added to our email list.

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

With the holiday season approaching, shoppers will come to your store in search of the perfect gifts. To enhance their shopping experience and boost your sales, consider optimizing your point of sale (POS) strategy. A simple yet effective tactic is to offer small, enticing items right at the checkout counter.

Photo credits (from left): Bruce’s Candy Kitchen, Marie’s Candies

A sleeve of beautifully decorated chocolate-covered sandwich cookies or a charming little bag of foil-wrapped chocolates can easily be added to a customer's purchase. Presenting small, eye-catching treats by the register, perhaps tied with a festive bow or ribbon, creates a visually appealing display that encourages impulse buys. This not only enhances the shopping experience but also prompts customers to treat themselves or grab a quick gift.

Positioning and Pricing for Success

To make this strategy effective, consider the placement and pricing of your POS items. Items should be easily visible and within arm's reach of customers as they wait in line. Keep the price reasonable—around $3 to $5—so customers feel comfortable adding these small extras to their purchase.

Highlight Seasonal Favorites

Offering seasonal items can add to the holiday spirit and draw customers in. For instance, a pair of holiday-themed chocolate truffles or a square of peppermint bark can create a festive atmosphere and resonate with customers looking for something special.

Encourage Shoppers to Treat Themselves

A small sign saying something like, “You deserve a treat!” can remind shoppers to enjoy a little pick-me-up. After a long day of holiday shopping, many people appreciate a small indulgence.

Before the holiday rush, take a look at your checkout area. Make sure it’s stocked with fun, affordable items that make great little gifts or quick treats. By adding these festive extras, you can increase sales and make your customers’ holiday shopping experience more enjoyable.

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.

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!

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.

Imagine being able to set your email marketing on autopilot.

With a little forward-thinking and planning, email automation makes it possible. Email automation is a tool that allows you to create an email or sequence of emails through the use of an email marketing service, such as Constant Contact, MailChimp (available for both free and paid plans) or others. Once the email(s) are created and perimeters are in place (such as the order or frequency you decide), these emails will automatically go out to contacts after they perform a specific action, such as joining your email list or making a purchase. Once set up, automated emails work on autopilot so you can focus on other areas of your business.

Create an Automated Welcome Email Series
According to a report by Omnisend, “welcome emails have an average open rate of 45%, versus 18% for promotional emails.” Naturally the first email in a welcome series should thank subscribers for joining your email list. Shopify recommends keeping welcome emails clean and easy to understand, with a brief description of your brand, how you’re different, what you have in common with shoppers and why shoppers should be excited. Make sure details regarding store hours, locations and contact information are accessible by linking to this information on your website or including it in the email footer. Don’t forget to always include a call to action. This may be a link to your website with an invitation to “shop now” or follow your social media pages.

For the second email in the series, you should teach readers something. This could include details about your products (e.g., high-quality ingredients, small-batch confections) or something relevant to your product or audience, such as tips for choosing the perfect gift for anyone and any occasion. Your call to action might include a link to a cool video that drives home your message or a coupon or promotional code as a gift for subscribing—just make sure to skip the expiration date since you won’t know when your contact will receive the offer.

To make the subsequent emails effective, consider content that will be useful to your audience. Constant Contact suggests using the following questions to determine which information would be most relevant to your audience, as well as the number of emails to include in a series and the frequency of which to send those emails.

• What do they want to know?
• What do they need to know?
• What are their needs, problems and challenges?

Answering these questions will help you to develop communication that nurtures and engages with prospective and returning customers.

Avoid Time-Sensitive Content
Once you’ve determined which information is relevant to your contacts, make sure to avoid time-sensitive content. Since the dates contacts receive your automated emails will vary based on when they sign up for your email list (or take another action), be mindful not to include information or photos that might become outdated upon receipt—such as specific dates, holidays or seasons. Although much of the beauty of an automated email is that you can “set it and forget it,” don’t forget it entirely. Make plans to review each email periodically to ensure it’s still relevant and current.

By investing time upfront to craft a simple, yet effective automated email series, your efforts are sure to pay off by converting more contacts to customers and building customer relationships that lead to lifelong loyalty and brand advocacy.

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.

Want to refresh your line of confections for Easter with little to no effort? You don't have to create entirely new recipes or invest in costly advertising campaigns to get customers excited about your products; all you really need is a bit of imagination. By giving your existing confections a new name themed for Easter, you can create more interest and drive sales  with simple additions or, better yet, without actually changing anything but the name. In this blog post, we'll explore some creative ways to give your confections a fresh twist for the Easter season.

Photo credit: Abdallah Candies

Rabbit Tails

Simply rename your chocolate-covered marshmallows as “Rabbit Tails” for a quick and easy refresh. Cute labels, like the one pictured from RCI member Abdallah Candies, can be created on Canva to draw attention and add excitement to an existing product.

Photo credit: Bruce’s Candy Kitchen

Bunny Feed + Bunny Poop

Just for the Easter holiday, RCI member Bruce’s Candy Kitchen renamed candy-coated, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds as “Bunny Feed.” They also sell packs of colorful Sixlets^® as “Bunny Poop.”

Photo credit: Marie’s Candies

Cottontail Crunch + Chick Feed

Add pastel-colored Easter candies, jelly beans, yogurt-covered raisins or (whatever spring treats you have on hand) to your existing trail mix or caramel popcorn and give it a clever name like, “Cottontail Crunch” or “Chick Feed." Target sells a limited edition Easter-themed trail mix called “ Bunny Bait” and RCI member Marie’s Candies adds Easter candy corn to roasted peanuts for a sweet and salty “Bunny Tracks Mix.”

Photo credit: Williams Sonoma

Bunny Bark

Make subtle changes to your existing bark recipe by adding pastel sprinkles or candies and rebrand it as “Bunny Bark.”

The goal is to bring excitement and fun to your normal offerings, making something new with very little change or without changing anything but the name. Look through your inventory to identify items that can be reimagined for Easter. With a little creativity, you could see a bump in lemon buttercream sales by rebranding them as “Ducktails.” Or why not rename your coconut creams as “Cottontails" for the holiday?

Capture the spirit of the season with a little imagination and every bunny will want a taste of your Easter-themed treats!

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 .