While I usually think of September as the time to introduce new holiday themed candies, there’s a lot new everyday candy coming out. Most of the big news is in advance of NACS which is the National Association for Convenience Stores and Petroleum Retailing trade show. (Yes, they show a lot of candy and snack food at that convention.) The biggest news is that Mars has settled on some new products as a result of their years of limited editions. Some people are going to be very happy.

Name: M&M’S(r) Coconut Chocolate Candies
Brand: Mars
Description: Last summer, the country indulged in limited edition M&M’S(r) Coconut Chocolate Candies. Now consumers’ taste buds can escape to a tropical paradise any time of the year. In December 2009, M&M’S(r) Coconut Chocolate Candies will join the permanent line-up for the M&M’S(r) Brand. Consumers can’t resist the coconut-flavored M&M’S(r) Brand milk chocolate coated in a white or brown candy shell.
Notes: It’s odd to see these rolled into the regular product line so quickly, they must have flown off store shelves. (I think the fact that it was the suggested item at Walgreen’s for a month might have had something to do with the wide sampling.)

Name: M&M’S(r) Wildly Cherry Chocolate Candies
Brand: Mars
Description: In February 2008, consumers went wild for M&M’S(r) Wildly Cherry Chocolate Candies. Now fans won’t have to fret their favorite treat will go out of season - it will be a permanent addition to the offerings from Mars Snackfood in December 2009. M&M’S(r) Wildly Cherry Chocolate Candies feature smooth milk chocolate surrounded by a crisp candy shell with rich, delicious cherry flavor.
Notes: I tried these and thought they were okay. Honestly I think they’d be better as part of the M&Ms Premiums line because I wasn’t fond of the raspberry version there.

Name: Jots (Halloween)
Brand: Brach’s (Farley’s & Sathers)
Description: Jots from Brach’s are colorful candy coated morsels of milk chocolate.
Notes: Jots come and go from Brach’s. I really don’t have any info, except for this photo which was featured in a holiday candy announcement around All Candy Expo. I wish I could find them in stores but other than the Candy Corn and Mellocremes, I’m not seeing much Brach’s in the stores in my area.

Name: Color Me Candies
Brand: Russell Stover
Description: Delicious Russell Stover chocolate covered in a sweet candy coating. Available in eleven colors & color mixes. These large candy pieces are perfect snacks for parties, team outings or just snacks to keep around the house.
Notes: Another entrant into the single color candy covered lentil, Russell Stover has 11 colors competitively priced at $2.99 per 8 ounce bag, a fraction of the price of M&Ms Colors (which are $6.99 for 7 ounces). Right now they’re available on the Russell Stover website and probably their owned & operated stores. I’m waiting for Los Angeles to cool off before placing an order.

Name: MILKY WAY(r) Simply Caramel
Brand: Mars
Description: With delicious caramel surrounded by real milk chocolate, the new MILKY WAY(r) Simply Caramel Bar gives consumers more of what they crave about the Milky Way(r) Brand—rich, creamy caramel.
Notes: I believe that these were tested in a seasonal mix of regular Milky Way, Milky Way Dark and then this Simply Caramel in miniatures. I never found them on shelves to try them myself, but I can only imagine what this bar would be like ... very, very sweet. Hopefully it will be chewier to set it apart from the current chocolate/caramel offerings like Caramello.

Name: 3 MUSKETEERS(r) Truffle Crisp Bars
Brand: Mars
Description: The new 3 MUSKETEERS(r) Truffle Crisp Bars offer a unique twist on the brand consumers love—a lighter, crispier way to enjoy chocolate. At only 170 calories, this delicate treat features a whipped up chocolate truffle on a crisp layer.
Notes: This looks an awful lot like the Fling bar that was a product in Australia and was recently test marketed in California. (Reviews here.) If it is, I certainly appreciate the toned-down packaging & gender-neutral sales approach.  There’s no indication whether it will come in a dark chocolate version.

Name: ICEE Gummy Candy
Brand: Koko’s Confectionery
Description: ICEE Gummy Candy is a new treat from Koko’s and is based on America’s favorite frozen carbonated beverage, ICEE. These sweet and chewy candies are shaped like iconic ICEE images such as the cup and bear. Flavors include cherry, blue raspberry, green apple, and lemon.
Notes: The flavor array is a little odd, in my mind it should have a cola flavor in there. Possibly even a cherry cola. I’m wondering if there’s anything that will give them that Icee note, like a burst of menthol like Sour Patch did with their Chillerz.

Name: MEGA Candy Buttons
Brand: Stichler Products, Inc
Description: A gigantic twist on the classic candy. Paper strips are a full 5 inches wide and 14 inches long. Colorful candy dots are flavored orange, lemon, cherry and raspberry. (Kosher)
Notes: They’re supposed to come off the paper easier than the Necco dots, so that’s a plus. And some flavor might be nice, though I’m thinking the appeal of these is still that they’re pretty. I do appreciate candies that play with scale.

Name: ICEE Popping Candy
Brand: Koko’s Confectionery
Description: ICEE Popping Candy is a new treat from Koko’s and is based on America’s favorite frozen carbonated beverage, ICEE. Dip the ICEE cup shaped lollipop into the Popping candy to experience an explosion on crackle in your mouth! Flavors include cherry, blue raspberry, green apple, and lemon.
Notes: I’m quite sure how this came about, but I’m glad they didn’t stick a straw in it and have kids inhale popping candies.

Name: TWIX(r) Java
Brand: Mars
Description: Coffee lovers can enhance their coffee breaks with a great TWIX(r) Brand twist featuring coffee-flavored caramel paired with irresistible chocolate cookie and covered in delicious TWIX(r) Brand chocolate. Back by popular demand to “bring the flavor back,” TWIX(r) Java Chocolate Cookie Bars are moving from a 2008 limited edition to a permanent offering.
Notes: I loved this when it first came out and have found that it’s really the only Twix bar I do like. I’m actually looking forward to the minis, as I find that’s usually the best balance of chocolate & crunch for my preferences.

All photos courtesy of their respective manufacturers.

Related Candies

1. Brach’s Indulge Almonds: Coconut & Caramel
2. Limited Edition M&Ms Coconut
3. M&Ms Premiums
4. Java Twix
5. Head to Head: M&Ms vs Koppers Milkies
6. Head to Head: Milky Way & Mars (Canada & UK)

I was delighted to find this new candy shop in Cambria, CA last week while I was on vacation.

Sweet Offerings is a quaint and well designed shop. It’s on Burton Drive in the eastern section of town, just down from the famous glass shop called Seekers.

The simple interior is classic & clean. A black and white theme with a brick red painted floor, it’s crisp and inviting and allows the chaos of colors of the different candies to pop.

Most of the candy offered is prepackaged. There’s a wide variety of mass-manufactured and hard to find favorites like Sky Bar, Mallo Cups, Chuckles and Fizzies but also higher end items like Marich panned nuts, Vosges & Lake Champlain chocolate bars.

For the most part the candy collection appears aimed at adults. Sure they have some kid-appealing items like some novelties and of course candies for all ages. But many of the items look like they’re just for grown ups, like a collections of caramels, licorice, Jelly Belly confections, Brix chocolate designed to pair with wine or fruit pate and even some honey.

The bulk candy wall was devoted almost entirely to Koppers items - their gourmet Malted Milk Balls and Cordials were prominently featured. The bulk wall was priced at $2.95 per quarter pound, which isn’t too bad for chocolate these days.

They also had a large glass enclosed counter with two cases where they featured several different brands of fine chocolates. Roger’s Chocolates took up one full case and the other had a mix of classic candy items like chocolate dipped orange peels, dipped pretzels, truffles and some novelty shaped candies.

The prices were higher than a drug store, but less than some other tourist traps I’ve been in. The candy I got there was all fresh (I bought my Victoria Creams, a Pecan Divinity Bar and a package of Marich Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews) and in good condition.

While they don’t have everything I could possibly be looking for, the collection of products was well curated - there was something there to satisfy just about every craving, whether it was for sizzling cinnamon, root beer, chocolate, salty sweets, super sours, chewy, nutty, gummi, cracklin’, gum, a lollipop or just something new.

It’s definitely a shop that I’ll make a point to come back to when I’m in the area.

Sweet Offerings
4070 Burton Dr
Cambria, CA 93428
(805) 927-9300

UPDATE 9/13/2011 - I stopped by the shop again last week while vacationing in the area. The first time I stopped by in the middle of the afternoon, they were inexplicably closed, with just a note on the door saying that they would be open the following day. I returned later in the week and they were indeed open. The offerings in the store have changed since my last visit. The inventory did not seem quite as lush or diverse, but they still had the bulk items and lots of nostalgic classics. My biggest disappointment was the fact that they no longer carry Roger’s Creams. Their chocolate counter is now populated with some unbranded chocolates. I purchased some chocolate covered candied orange peels and a couple of pieces of honeycomb. Both were good and at $19.99 a pound I thought they were well priced. I still missed picking up the Roger’s Creams though.

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3. Daffin’s Candies Factory & World’s Largest Candy Store
4. Candy Source: Munchies (Los Angeles)
5. Candy Source: Powell’s Sweet Shoppe
6. Candy Source: Candy Baron - Santa Monica

Yesterday my husband and I took the day off of work and went to Santa Catalina Island. We passed straight through town (well, we grabbed a cup of coffee) and headed up to the Botanical Gardens, looked around the Wrigley Memorial and then hiked up to the top of the ridge.

(GPS location.)

What powers me when hiking? Besides a fig bar before starting, we munched on Goetze’s Caramel Creams and Swedish Fish, then at the top, at 1,100 feet we ate a BT McElrath Salty Dog Bar.

Don’t worry, all we took were photos, all we made were memories and all we left were footprints.

A few years ago I visited Disneyland and tried to document the candy available.

On Friday I took a little trip up to Universal CityWalk at Universal Studios to see what the state of candy is there.

This wasn’t the first time I was there, I visited with Sera from The Candy Enthusiast last summer, but this time it was during the day and I had more time to browse around and take notes (instead of just buying candy).

There are three main shops that have candy and each offers a bit of a different menu.

Mercado Chocolate Loco (Crazy Chocolate Market)
(Along the main promenade)
(818) 761-7213

This shop is quite bold and colorful. The inventory is also pretty wide. It includes many fine chocolate bars from local companies like Chuao to brands like Santander, Ritter Sport, Valor, Cadbury, Green & Blacks, Lindt & Ghirardelli and packaged chocolate candies from Turin & Marich plus some generic chocolate blocks.

But what is most interesting about this shop, especially for those who are travelers and want to experience something different, is the candy case.

On my first visit there I picked up some fun items like candied pumpkin and candied sweet potato. This time around all these seemed to have were tamarind balls (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) and only two varieties of a version of dulce de leche that’s like a Mexican style Penuche. Then there were the mango & chili items plus other traditional tamarind confections.

In the second case are also the typical house-made fudge, chocolate dipped pretzels, large candy cups and crazy huge chocolate dipped apples.

The prices were decent, especially for the fudge. For the prepackaged chocolate bars it’s quite a bit steeper. For the Ritter Bars they were $3, the Valor were $5 ... a stop a the Target or Cost Plus World Market within a stone’s through would be about a third off.

Then there’s the stuff in the barrels. Real Mexican candy like Pulparindo, Pelon Pelo Rico, de la Rosa Mazapan & ChiliBonchas. All for the low, low price of $11.90 per pound. Go to just about any grocery store in Los Angeles and the same stuff is about $2 or $3. But hey, that’s what vacation is all about - overpaying for most of the things you don’t allow yourself to buy at home.

The nice thing is that theming isn’t like everything else. It’s not sterile, it’s not overly precious ... it’s just a candy shop that acts like a candy shop. The counter help seemed rather knowledgeable about their candy offerings and seemed partial to the flavors of the Mexican & Latin American items. They also serve hot chocolate.

Sparky’s
(Right at the entrance to the Fountain Court)
(818) 622-2925

Sparky’s is more than a candy store, think of it as a gift store with a collector’s bent. They have Pez, lots and lots of Pez. Plus other little items in licensed lines Hello Kitty, Betty Boop and Hot Wheels.

They have the standard bulk candies like Jelly Belly and a rather large selection of specialty flavored taffy. But mostly they have packaged candy with the theme of classics & nostalgic offerings. Theater size boxes of all the standards (that are usually on sale for a dollar at the drug store are $3 here). Hard to find candy bars like Sky Bar, every flavor of Charleston Chew, all of the Annnabelle’s bars, Clark Bars, Idaho Spuds and Bottlecaps. Those felt a little more reasonable at $1.50 (my local 7-11 is charging $1.29 for candy bars now).

The staff here also seemed to really know their candy, I witnessed as they were able to direct a customer to a bar based only on the description of it (turned out to be a Sky Bar).

IT’SUGAR
(Between the Fountain Court and the Cinemas)
(818) 506-5184

This completely tricked out and themed candy store is the largest by far. The spartan white walls & displays include some amazing original art direction.

Instead of going for childish renditions of candy & rainbows, they’ve done some really nice work here to set themselves apart. It’s part Sephora and part Juicy Couture. (Definitely geared towards women.) Glam candy. Pre-sexualized for your fetish-ization.

I know it sounds like I’m critical of it, but I rather enjoyed the imaginative photos gracing the walls - women swimming with Swedish Fish. Gummi Worms eaten with chopsticks by a stylized Geisha. A full on 18th Century French pouf wig made of red licorice on a starkly powdered face with bright lips to match (image here).

The bulk bins go for $11.60 a pound and feature mostly sugar candy. They have a nice selection of dextrose candy like Cry Baby Tears and more generic items in different shapes & colors like Runts & bananas. There are plenty of gummis, from single flavor bears from Albanese to some of their more spectacular creations like the Gummy Butterflies. Gummi cherries & Peach Rings as well as the various sour belts. Then there are standards like Good n Plenty, licorice twists, Lemonheads, Cinnamon bears, Hot Tamales and so on. There is a small selection of chocolate items in bulk, just chocolate covered nuts, a few gourmet malt balls and mini Butterfinger type bars.

In the candy bar area, they are similarly stocked & priced as Sparky’s, though they carry a few more of the penny candy style items like paper dots and wax lips.

Then at the very back of the store is the M&Ms Color Wall. Every color of M&MS you could want, make your own custom mix. (Same with Jelly Belly.)

I found the Wazoo bars there (very hard to come by these days) so I picked up the Wild Berriez I hadn’t tried yet and some pretty looking dextrose candies, a crazy set of gumballs plus a few other munchables. I got out of there for less than $5 and my parking validated.

The biggest selling point, besides just a fun place to gawk at candy is the merchandising of candy brands. You can get ear buds branded with Sugar Babies, lip balm or gloss in a gajillion different candy flavors, coffee mugs, crazy tee shirts, a Twizzlers messenger bag, pillows shaped like your favorite candies ... there’s a lot of non-edible stuff in there.

IT’SUGAR is a small chain with stores in all the hot tourist spots: Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach plus smaller outposts in Miami, Long Island, San Diego, London, Manchester, New York City, Las Vegas and Ft. Lauderdale.

There’s definitely something to satisfy your sweet tooth if you’re at Universal CityWalk. (The insiders trick is to valet park for 2 hours for free with validation on weekday afternoons, see their current rules.)

Universal Sudios CityWalk (Hollywood)
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

Related Candies

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2. Candy Source: Jelly Bean Factory
3. Candy Shopping in Los Angeles
4. Candy Source: Munchies (Los Angeles)
5. Mel & Rose Wine & Spirits
6. Candy Source: Candy Baron - Santa Monica

Some of the best candies are not from the big candy makers, they come from innovative new companies and of course the wonderful regional & specialty confectioners. Here are a few items coming down the pike from them:

Name: SunLights

Brand: Sconza

Description: Roasted premium sunflower seeds drenched in cocoa and covered in dazzling delicate sugar shells.

Notes: There are already plenty of companies making candy coated-chocolate sunflower seeds. But I suppose ubiquity would help. Sconza makes some very nice panned candies, so I’ll definitely try them. But the “cocoa” part is a bit disappointing. I think to guarantee real chocolate I might stick with the Kimmie All Natural ones (and no artificial colors).

Name: Cherry Lovers Fruit Chews

Brand: Gimbal’s Fine Candies

Description: Made with REAL Cherry Juice and are naturally high in Antioxidant Vitamin C. Featuring nine incredible juicy cherry flavors - from orchard fresh Bing Cherry, to New York Cherry Cheesecake and luscious Cherry Chocolate, these candies can’t be beat!

Notes: I know, it’s odd that I’m posting about a cherry product but I’m actually excited about this. I got a sample bag from the folks at the National Confectioners Association and they look great. They look like the See’s Cinnamon Hearts I had earlier this year but come in a variety of flavors & colors. A beautiful assortment for a jar or dish especially for Valentine’s Day.

Name: Quench Fruit Blast

Brand: Quench Gum

Description: Quench Gum “Sugar Free” Fruit Blast - Same great taste and now sugar free!

Notes: I liked that the gum doesn’t have aspartame in it (though I don’t know what they’re using for sweeteners if not aspartame or sugar). It’s nice to see the sports, mouth quenching gums making a comeback.

Name: Zachary Assorted Chocolates

Brand: Zachary Confections

Description: Our Assorted Box Chocolates have a brand new look! Milk and Dark Chocolate covered cremes and caramels.

Notes: My experience with Zachary is limited to their jelly & fondant products, mostly for Halloween (candy corn & jelly pumpkins). I’ve regarded them as a low end brand, which is fine for sugar candy, so I don’t know which way these boxed chocolates are going to go.

Name: Indulge Cherry Creme Cluster

Brand: Brach’s (Farley’s & Sathers)

Description: We are also offering the Brach’s(r) Indulge(r) Cherry Cr?me Clusters in a gable box for the consumer looking for a great new item for their cherry-loving friends!

Notes: Brach’s actually has a whole new line of these Indulge products. Some are just classic Brach’s products like Bridge Mix and chocolate covered nuts. But this one sounded pretty interesting - cherry fondant with nuts covered in chocolate. (Not something I’d eat.) I have samples of other items in the Indulge line and will post a full review soon.

Name: Zum

Brand: Zum

Description: Yum, yum, yum, give me some Zum(r)! New liquid center Zum(r) chewing gum keeps your taste buds guessing all the way to the wacky sour apple-cherry core. Chomp into some Zum(r) for a flavorful, sweet-sour blast!

Notes: I have a sample of this (no photo yet). They’re sold in a blister pack and appear to be mega-looking Freshen-Up styled pieces. What I liked on the wrapper was that it was made with real sugar, not artificial sweeteners.

Name: MelloWorld Marshmallow Novelties

Brand: MNT Trading Inc.

Description: Melloworld marshmallows is classified as novelty due to its presentation and combinations i.e. some are filled with flavored jam, others are sandwiched between a fruit flavored gummy belt, others are twisted to resemble a rope, some are filled into a mini ice cream cone filled with fruit flavored jam and others are shaped in various shapes like bear, duck, rabbit & flower shapes etc.

Notes: I thought the packaging from this company was really cute. As far as marshmallows go, there aren’t many choices on shelves beyond the regular white ones which are more of an ingredient than a candy. (I am rather fond of strawberry marshmallows.)

Name: Get Silly Ice Cream Candies

Brand: Get Silly Ice Cream

Description: The amazing, new, innovative unmeltable ice cream treat. Get Silly Ice Cream Candy is made from 100% real ice cream, tastes like 100% real ice cream, IS 100% real ice cream. You can have an ice cream experience throughout the day without ever having to worry about it melting. One bite of Get Silly Ice Cream Candies and you will experience the creamy, velvety taste of traditional ice cream whenever you want, wherever you are. Following our wildly successful launch of America’s #1 pelletized ice cream IttiBitz, Get Silly Ice Cream is releasing a brand new candy version.

Notes: I’ve never tried Dippin’ Dots so I think I’m missing something here about there being any rankings for the category of pelletized ice cream. (Which sounds like a way to weaponize dairy products to me.) I’m not sure if it’s actually candy or not ... the rules aren’t quite clear and the way the product is served isn’t either.

Name: Fun Sweets Cotton Candy

Brand: Fun Sweets

Description: Fun Sweets offers an Award Winning line of cotton candy in shelf-stable transparent containers. We are proud to supply the country’s leading retailers and entertainment venues and would like the opportunity to be your cotton candy choice as well.

Notes: I don’t think anything will ever rival real fresh cotton candy made in front of you. A fun, well designed little bucket might be nice, especially for kids, who haven’t learned the difference. (And I have tried this so I can’t say that it is an actual wad of cotton candy instead of a fluffy ethereal cloud.)

All images courtesy of the respective manufacturers

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2009 - Mars
2. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2009 - Hershey
3. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2009 # 1
4. Candy Tease: April 2009
5. Candy Tease: Spring 2009

Mars has recently become one of the kings of limited editions. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not innovating new candies, too. On Tuesday at All Candy Expo they held a press conference and announced their slate of new products and releases.

Name: M&Ms Premiums Chocolate Candies
Brand: Mars
Description: Who says good chocolate has to be serious? Mars Snackfood US is redefining the premium chocolate category again by introducing its popular M&M’S(r) Premiums Chocolate Candies in a new stylish petite reclosable carton that lets consumers savor and save as little or as many as they want. Now consumers can share a premium chocolate experience with friends, while showing off their sense of style and fun on-the-go! They promise to satisfy consumers’ chocolate cravings with two delectable flavors—Triple Chocolate and Dark Chocolate. Delicious gems of carefully slow blended chocolate in a shimmering soft shell will melt in your mouth. Find M&M’S(r) Premiums Chocolate Candies with other premium chocolates.

Notes: I mentioned these yesterday and already have a sample in hand of the Triple Chocolate variety. However, I’ve not tried nor seen the Dark Chocolate version before. I’m wondering if they’ll be like Dark Chocolate M&Ms or more like Dove dark chocolate. The retail price will be $1.29 for a 1.2 ounce box. The press release says they’ll be on shelves this spring. Anyone spotted them in the wild?

UPDATE: Review of M&Ms Premiums Dark Chocolate

Name: Snickers Transformers
Brand: Mars
Description: Based on the “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” hero Bumblebee, SNICKERS introduces the limited-edition SNICKERS Nougabot Bar. This distinctive bar combines dark colored caramel and bright yellow nougat for the same great flavor of original SNICKERS but with the look reminiscent of Bumblebee

Notes: This is pretty much the same as the Shrek Snickers which had a green nougat. I didn’t care for how I though the food coloring changed the flavor of the bar. On another note, Nougatbot is a trademarked name for Mars.

UPDATE: Review of Transformers Nougabot & M&Ms

Name: Limited Edition Snickers Fudge
Brand: Mars
Description: The new SNICKERS(r) Brand Fudge Bar (Limited Edition) boasts a peanut-packed chocolate fudge layer atop chewy peanut butter nougat wrapped in delicious milk chocolate. The result is an irresistible taste that will have consumers running to the candy aisle.

Retail customers who join the fudge craze will be a part of a $215 million growing fudge market (according to 2007 Mars Sensory RGT Research). Consumers are sure to love the combination of their favorite SNICKERS(r) brand and the nostalgic taste of rich fudge.

Notes: They should be hitting the shelves in August. I have a sample (though it’s kind of smashed) and will post a review closer to the release date.

UPDATE: Review of Snickers Fudge bar is here.

Name: Limited Edition Coconut M&Ms
Brand: Mars
Description: Catch the M&M’S(r) wave during Summer 2009! New M&M’S(r) Coconut Chocolate Candies will bring an island feel to retail displays and excite consumers to try this fun limited edition flavor from their favorite M&M’S(r) brand.

Notes: On the list of M&Ms flavor variations they should come out with, this wasn’t even on my radar. Not that I’m not happy to hear it. I have a sample and will post about them soon. Early thoughts are that they’re not bad, but I think they might have been better in dark chocolate. They should be hitting the shelves in August.

UPDATE: Review of Coconut M&Ms is here.

Other new products announced I’ve covered previously. They include: Dove Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate with Peanut Butter, Fling Chocolate Fingers, M&Ms Strawberried Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies, M&Ms Disney Memorable Moments.

Then there’s the Real Chocolate Relief Act ... I haven’t blogged about it and I probably won’t do anything beyond this mention of it. Basically, you can go to their website on Fridays until 9/25/09. They’re giving away a quarter of a million coupons for a free candy bar each week. It seems like a lot of work for 75 cents that you don’t get it for 6 weeks. I can’t decide what they can or will do with your info besides get an awesome cross section of the American population and who will fill out a form for less than a dollar. If that’s not a demonstration of America’s capability to delay gratification, I don’t know what is. (Kind of makes you think we’re gonna be okay.)

Related Candies

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2. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2009 # 1
3. Candy Tease: February 2009
4. Candy Tease: Autumn 2008

The biggest, most exciting bit of news to come from Hershey’s this year as far as new products has to be their new Pieces line:

Pieces(tm) - Hershey’s will turn some of its most iconic candies into delicious bit-size pieces wrapped in a crunchy candy shell. Offering the big flavor consumers love in smaller bites, Pieces will feature individually packaged Almond Joy(r) Pieces, Hershey’s(r) Special Dark Pieces, Reese’s(r) Pieces and York(r) Pieces in a portable and resalable stand-up bag.

Like Reese’s Pieces are a lentil shaped & candy shelled version of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I’m sure that Pieces will merely be “inspired by” the flavors of these popular candy bars. I loved the little Hershey’s Bites that were discontinued, and realize now that these will not be a real replacement for those.

What they do look like though are:

Hershey’s Special Dark Pieces - a dark chocolate lentil. The packaging looks like they’ll be dark red, maroon and brown shells. (Hershey’s Special Dark Pieces review here.)

York Pieces - a dark chocolate center flavored with peppermint (not a fondant center with a dark chocolate veneer). These look like they’re dark blue and white shelled. (Hershey’s York Pieces review here.)

Almond Joy Pieces - milk chocolate, coconut and almond. The shells here look like blue, beige and brown. I’m not sure if it’s actual bits of coconut and almond or just the flavors. (Almond Joy Pieces review here.)

Other items rolling out now:

Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate Bars - New Hershey’s Bliss chocolate bars feature a smooth, creamy texture for an indulgent personal chocolate experience in Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with a Meltaway Center.

My thoughts: as I mentioned in the post about packaging, these are looking an awful lot like Dove.

Hershey’s Kisses Brand Chocolate Meltaway - Hershey’s Kisses Brand Chocolates, loved for their unique shape and foil wrap, will introduce a delicious new flavor. Hershey’s Kisses Brand Chocolate Meltaway is the classic milk chocolate treat consumers love with a smooth, creamy meltaway center.

My thoughts: I got a few of these in a box from the folks at the National Confectioner’s Association and now have a whole package for review that came with this press release. I’m having trouble telling them apart from the Hot Cocoa and Chocolate Truffle Kisses, but I’ll work on it.

Hershey’s Nuggets Double Chocolate - Hershey’s Nuggets Double Chocolate combine extra creamy Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with rich Hershey(r)‘s Special Dark(r) Chocolate for a delectable indulgence.

My thoughts: it’s a fun idea! Combine a bit of dark and milk chocolate. (Sometimes I mix dark & milk M&Ms.)

Hershey’s 100 Calorie Whipped Vanilla Bars - Hershey’s extends its portion control offerings with the introduction of the Hershey’s 100 Calorie Whipped Vanilla Bars. Combining the decedent flavors of vanilla and chocolate, the new bars offer a balanced indulgence in one convenient pack.

My thoughts: I’ve pretty much stayed away from the 100 calorie bars for review, but I have to say that they’ve done some nice work at providing some tasty options that aren’t just smaller sized regular candies - they’re new from the ground up.

Later this fall you can also sample:

Hershey’s Bliss White Chocolate with Creamy Meltaway Center - Hershey’s Bliss will introduce a white chocolate expression to this decedent chocolate line with the launch of Hershey’s Bliss White Chocolate with Creamy Meltaway Center. The new individually wrapped, bite-size chocolates will be available in laydown bags.

My thoughts: If it’s really white chocolate, I’m going to be really interested. Hershey’s used to make good white chocolate products and I’ve love to see them return to it. (The old Cookies ‘n Cream bar used to use cocoa butter.)

Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Chocolate Miniatures - Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Chocolate Miniatures offer a delicious flavor assortment with three unique miniature chocolate varieties in one laydown bag, including Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Creme, Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Milk Chocolate and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate. 

My thoughts: as mentioned above, the Cookies ‘n Creme used to have cocoa butter in it, but since they took it out, I haven’t been terribly interested in it. I do enjoy the cookies and milk chocolate but love, love, loved the Cookies ‘n Mint and would think it’s a natural item to include in this mix.

Related Candies

1. Hershey’s Special Dark Pieces
2. Hershey’s York Pieces
3. Hershey’s Kisses: Chocolate Meltaway
4. Hershey’s Almond Joy Pieces
5. Hershey’s Bliss
6. Reese’s Pieces
7. York Mints
8. Hershey’s Cookies
9. Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Mint
10. Hershey Bites: York, Reese’s Peanut Butter and KitKat

Half the time the stuff being announced in as new products aren’t really new. They’re just repackaging. Not that I have anything against that. I love a clever and useful boxes and tins and of course an engaging and colorful wrappers.

First thing that I noticed a few years ago is nostalgic packaging. The first one I heard about was a retro version of 3 Musketeers, Snickers & M&Ms sold at WalMart stores. Then I started seeing Hershey’s special packaging.

This year Just Born is into the act with nostalgic boxes for their most popular products: Mike and Ike, Hot Tamales and Goldenberg Peanut Chews.

Kinda fun.

Is the candy different? Did they go back to the original recipe or something? No, pretty much the same.

But I have to say, the Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews (review) taste a lot better than Chew-Ets. Maybe it’s that these were extra fresh ... or that it’s the first King-Size package I’ve had since I moved to California. (Though they were a sample from All Candy Expo folks,  all the other above items pictured were from my personal stash.)

For the most part the other items I’ve seen lately are resizing of the regular packages.

First, Mars is going to be making their M&Ms Premiums (review) available in single-serve boxes. Pretty hot looking. I like the flip top, I like that the box was jam packed with the little triple chocolate premiums.

I don’t have much info otherwise though ... I’m hoping they won’t be much more than the price of King Size M&Ms. (They are 1.2 ounces, not as much as a regular bag.)

Hershey’s is also creating a bar format of their new Bliss line (review).

I got this sample of the new Hershey’s Bliss Rich & Creamy Dark Chocolate Bar, it’s about the equivalent of five little Bliss bites.

Look familiar? Yeah, not that different from the format of the Dove chocolate line. Kind of sad how much they look alike.

Even though it feels like stuff is getting smaller and more expensive, I did find one bright spot in the news (in addition to the awesome new products, of course).

Instead of the classic tray the LifeSaver Gummis (review) now come in a 2 ounce single serve pack (“With 33% More Gummies”). I saw these at them on shelves at the 7-11 already.

The thing that I learned that was so surprising is that LifeSavers Gummis are the number one selling gummi in the United States. Not Haribo (who have been doing it far longer) or even previous domestic brands like Trolli or Black Forest. Nope, LifeSavers.

The final news nugget is the renaming of Crackheads to Jitterbeans (well, that’s not entirely true, you can get them with either name). I reviewed them last year and Candy Addict’s Brian even appeared on TV to talk about the branding of the product (advocating a name change ... and this is a pretty good choice).

The package is kind of intimidating. The same size as a regular Lemonheads box ... but this one advertises that it has as much caffeine as 6 cups of coffee. I haven’t counted up the beans, but I’m pretty sure that four would be my limit and never to be eaten after noon if I wanted to sleep.

I’ve pointed out the new Mars packaging of their Dove large tablets in three pre-portioned & wrapped bars (review) which was followed by their organic wing Seeds of Change (review) doing the same.

There are probably lots of other associations we’re all going to be making when we see the stuff on the shelves. (Especially when the old & new styles are sitting side by side.)

What have you noticed so far?

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2. Hershey’s Website Inaccuracies
3. All Gummies Gourmet Fruity Fish (Swedish Fish knock-off)
4. All Candy Expo 2008 - Final Link Wrappers
5. Short & Sweet All Candy Expo Bites