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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Updated: Friday, January 20, 2023
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Showcase your local community by developing a branded souvenir chocolate collection using custom cocoa butter transfer sheets. Susan Truax with Bruce’s Candy Kitchen teamed up with American Chocolate Designs to create a branded souvenir collection representing their tourist town of Cannon Beach, Oregon. To make the idea a reality, Susan and her team was, first, tasked with identifying four landmarks or events that could be translated into simple line-art designs and applied to chocolate-covered sandwich cookies.  Design mock-up from American Chocolate Designs "It was easy to settle on the first two designs—Haystack Rock is a very recognizable and popular monolith in Cannon Beach and the cute tufted puffins that inhabit the area seemed like natural fits,” recalled Susan. She ran into a snag when the line drawing of the area's well-known Tillamook Rock Lighthouse didn’t turn out as expected. “Lesson learned, not every idea translates to a good design,” Susan reflected. “I replaced the lighthouse design with a sand castle to represent our Annual Sand Castle Contest, as well as memories made playing on the beach.” The fourth and final design was an outline of the state of Oregon with a heart. Photo credit: Bruce's Candy Kitchen In just four easy steps, American Chocolate Designs created their custom transfer sheets which were ready to be applied to chocolate. The finished products are displayed individually in Bruce's candy case as well as part of a four-piece boxed collection. The branded souvenir sandwich cookies have proven to be very popular, but not just with tourists. “The success of these branded products has even led several other businesses in our local community to order their own custom transfer sheets that we now use for their special chocolate pieces,” Susan added. As in the case of Bruce's Candy Kitchen, custom cocoa butter transfer designs can help create unique and sweet opportunities for your business to highlight what makes your community special for a small financial investment. Your out-of-town customers will love the sweet souvenir of their visit and locals will take pride in sharing gifts that represent what makes your community special. 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.
Tags:
branding
Cocoa Butter
Custom
Oreos
Transfer Sheets
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Updated: Friday, August 20, 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.
Tags:
Chocolate
Nutter Butter
Oreos
Pretzels
Social Media
Valentine's Day
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Updated: Thursday, July 30, 2020
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Whether you like it or not, tie-dye is one of the biggest fashion trends of 2020—no doubt thanks to quarantined DIYers looking to pass time and upcycle their wardrobes. Oftentimes popular fashion trends find their way into other industries. With all the fun, bright colors and happy vibes it creates, we think the tie-dye trend is a perfect fit for the candy industry. If you’re looking to jump on this psychedelic bandwagon, keep reading for five must-try tie-dye ideas. Tie-Dye S’mores Tie-dye + s’mores! Does it get any better than this? Whip up a batch of these colorful and gooey marshmallows and dare your customers NOT to plaster photos of them all over social media! They won’t be able to resist! Click here for a tutorial from Studio DIY. Tie-Dye Chocolate Bars Create yummy swirls of color on a chocolate bar, then take it a step further by embellishing it with a fun, little moulded chocolate piece—like this ice cream cone—and lots of sprinkles. Tie-Dye Moulded Chocolates You don’t even have to like tie-dye to love this colorful bunny! What other moulded chocolates would look great in tie dye? All of them! Tie-Dye Packaging What goes best with tie-dye? More tie-dye, of course! Complete your collection of tie-dye confections with equally psychedelic packaging. Contact MOD-PAC for more information about these tie-dye boxes. Tie-Dye Merchandise For the truest tie-dye enthusiasts, consider adding branded tie-die merch to your offerings, like these t-shirts from Asher's Chocolates. In the world of tie-dye, the possibilities are seemingly endless! These are just a few of our favorite ways for your business to ride the tie-dye trend. Similar techniques could also be applied to chocolate-covered sandwich cookies, pretzels, fudge and more. What confections would you transform with tie dye? Share 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. Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.
Tags:
Colors
Creativity
Displays
Fudge
Ideas
Inspiration
Marketing
Marshmallow
Oreo
Oreos
Packaging
S'mores
Spring
Summer
Trends
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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.
Tags:
Chocolate
Nutter Butter
Oreos
Pretzels
Social Media
Valentine's Day
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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.
Tags:
Candy Holidays
Idea Sharing
Ideas
Merchandising
Oreos
Something on a Stick Day
Spring
Summer
Teacher
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Updated: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
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World Teacher’s Day is Sunday, October 5 and you can bet many parents in your community will be scouring social media (especially Pinterest) for the perfect gift to thank the special teachers in their life…or sweeten them up a bit before they have to spend the week with a classroom of children that just seem like they’re on a sugar high! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get your business on the radar with goodies worthy of an A+.
Charlie’s Chocolate Factory shared their Apple Box (pictured above) during Candy Clinic at the 2015 Annual Convention, with a cleverly added hole for a gummy worm to pop out. RCI members can view videos from Candy Clinic on our website at www.retailconfectioners.org/candyclinic.
Click here for an easy-to-follow tutorial (with lots of photos) on how to create these cute Oreo Apple Pops.
In addition to offering great gift ideas, help your customers celebrate teachers by holding a favorite teacher contest. It’s a fun avenue to recognize the great teachers in your area and also create some awareness for your company.
First, create a beautiful gift basket that will go to the winning teacher and have it on display in your store. For the contest, invite your customers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, etc. to nominate their favorite teacher and include the reason they have nominated him or her. To increase excitement for the contest, you could also give a box of your chocolates or “mini” gift basket to the nominator of the winning teacher.
Add excitement to the contest by spreading the word through press releases, radio spots, school newsletters, etc. Everyone will also want to know who wins so be sure to get a photo of the winner with his or her nominator and post it on social media and in your store.
Tags:
Candy Making
Chocolate
Contests
Creativity
Events
gifts
Marketing
Oreos
Photos
School
Social Media
Teacher
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