1. skittles
2. carnival skittles
3. japanese candy
4. starburst candy
5. berries and creme
6. maya gold
7. starburst
8. snickers dark
9. barnegat candy
10. FDA chocolate

Wow, I can only say that people are sure interested in the chewy goodness of Skittles and Starburst. (Hey, I had a good time writing about them.)

It’s a new month, so here’s a new feature for you, just a little weekly recap not only of what I’ve covered here, but all the candy news that’s fit to link!

Here’s the recap of CandyBlog reviews this week:
Tuesday: Storck Chocolate Riesen (9 out of 10)

Wednesday: Butterfinger Stixx (6 out of 10)

Thursday: Starburst Sours (New) (6 out of 10)

Friday: Sour Extinguisher (5 out of 10)

Weekly Average: 6.5 ... 50% chocolate content.

Blogads is sponsoring a comprehensive poll of blog readers. I’d love it if some Candy Blog readers would participate. Of course I’d like to know more about my readers (like your flossing habits and your pet preferences) as I think this helps me and other bloggers to understand what you’re looking for.

It’s a pretty long survey and takes about 5-8 minutes to go through. You’re not obligated to answer all the questions, so feel free to skip any you don’t like.

Please take my Blog Reader Project survey.

I will happily share some of this info when the project is done. You can preview some of the data here:

Demographic Sample Data from the Blog Reader Project.

As you’ve noticed, Candy Blog has had advertising in the right column and below the first post for over a year now. I don’t make much money off of it and I appreciate the folks who have supported the choice to monetize the blog. I’ve tried to encourage those advertisers that I believe in and that I think you’re interested in. That money goes towards the hosting, software and programming of the site as well as the candy I buy and review. What little is left over goes towards my travel expenses for All Candy Expo. So that’s my full disclosure on the matter. Sharing info about who you are and what sorts of things you might help me attract advertisers or help the current ones promote their products and services a little better. It will not mean that this site will suddenly be deluged with flashing and animated intrusions into your reading experience.

Nothing’s going to change what this blog is about: Candy.

UPDATE: Here’s what some of the data looks like. At the moment I’m rather disappointed that the flossing habits of Candy Blog readers are not as good as the general blog-reading public. (But perhaps this will attract dental care products as advertisers.)

I thought I would give you some real-world info about what it’s like to order from some of the webstores I’ve mentioned before.

Economy Candy’s site is pretty well organized. The photos are good the descriptions are decent, except when it comes to the bulk stuff. I visited their brick & mortar store when I was in New York last year, so I knew that they were for real. The site does not have everything that’s in the store. However, I get the feeling that you could probably call them and have them throw in some ad hoc items. (Perhaps someone can confirm that.)

I went there specifically for the chocolate covered halvah, and I figured as long as I was there and paying the shipping I’d throw in some other stuff.

I put in an order at Economy Candy and purchased the following:
2lbs Shufra Halvah Squares - Kosher (@ 6.99/lb) .................13.98
1 lb Milk Chocolate Malt Balls - Kosher (@2.99/lb)................2.99
1 bar French Taffy Chew - Banana…...............................0.75
1 bar French Taffy Chew - Chocolate…............................0.75
1 bar French Taffy Chew - Vanilla…..............................0.75
1 bar Peco Brittle 1.8oz….......................................0.75
1 bag Flying Saucers - 35 Piece Bag…............................1.79
UPS Ground…....................................................12.91
HANDLING….......................................................3.00
TOTAL: $37.67

The order tracking was a little frustrating. I kept visiting the site and their order tracking page but it never said that my order had shipped. But the candy showed up within a week. So go figure.

The package was well organized and everything was fresh and in tact. My Halvah came in a little white box and the rest of the contents just wrapped nicely in bubble wrap.

I would definitely use them again for future purchases of items I’m not able to get elsewhere. They allow purchases of single candy bars, though the shipping is a little high, if you’re getting a variety the shipping isn’t that bad.

Pros: Good selection, good prices, fresh product.

Cons: Frustrating website & order tracking, they don’t always give a lot of information about the bulk items. Shipping and handling a bit expensive (but candy is kind of heavy).

I give the whole experience a 7 out of 10.

April was the end of our most recent Candy Season. I hope everyone has stocked up on excellent candy for the rest of the summer.

Here’s what brought many new readers to Candy Blog in April:

1. cadbury mini eggs
2. fda chocolate
3. japanese candy
4. marathon candy bar
5. easter candy
6. berries and creme
7. maya gold
8. choxie
9. barnegat candy
10. starburst candy

My Don’t Mess with Our Chocolate post is the first thing that comes up when you googled “fda chocolate” but that only accounts for a small number of folks who have been helping educate themselves and spread the word about the issue. Over 7,000 people have read that post so far.

The other searches are mostly old posts I’ve made, except for the Berries and Creme ... folks really want to see that commercial, I guess. It’s a little startling to see the Barnegat candy on the list. The post I made about Hometown Candy, Jordan Almonds and Barnegat is still seeing a lot of traffic as more and more people are swindled by this dubious webstore.

My predictions for this month include Skittles getting on the list and possibly fair trade.

I’m happy to report that Julie at Booga J (and her own Chocolate Blog) won the Keep it Real Raffle. A $100 gift certificate from Chocosphere.com is already on its way to her.

It might console you to know that she’ll probably be virtually sharing her booty in the near future on her blog. In case you forget to bookmark her, I’m adding her to my blogroll over there on the lower right.

Julie worked really hard too, with five raffle tickets (there were about 130 entries total) ... though the “ticket” I drew for her was for her comment to the FDA.

In the next week or so I’ll announce some more giveaways. Thanks again to everyone for their help in getting the word out.

I just wanted to follow up with the news that of the grand prize in the Keep it Real Raffle.

After seeing the link to www.DontMessWithOurChocolate.com on their home page, I’ll be giving away a hefty gift certificate to Chocosphere.com.

$100 worth of pure chocolate merchandise can be yours when you help spread the word that Americans want real chocolate and tell the FDA how you feel about the issue.

Read all about it here in my coverage or get the whole story at www.DontMessWithOurChocolate.com.

I’ll have more word on other prizes soon!

I did a little more shopping this weekend and picked up some good deals since Easter goodies were now 75% off.

Rite Aid (Hollywood) - only 50% off on Thursday night but I was stopping for batteries because the power was out

Target (Burbank Empire Center):
There really wasn’t anything left there. Just a lot of weird plushy Easter baskets and a few odds and ends.

Walgreen’s (Echo Park):

Long’s Drugs (Glendale) - this location is in the basement parking area of a shopping plaza. They had a WHOLE aisle of Easter goodies, all in good condition and with a pretty good selection. They had cases and cases of Mini Eggs left for any of those folks who live in the area

The one thing I’ve found when shopping after holidays is you have to go where people aren’t planning on stocking up on candy. I know this seems like a weird thing to consider, but the Walgreen’s in Echo Park seems to be the best place for me to find a good selection even after the deeper discounts, while the one in Hollywood on Sunset Blvd was cleaned out on Monday. The Long’s in Glendale seemed to be the same way, excellent selection left (and still pretty neatly organized) and great prices. I was on the prowl for Lindt items, but I guess you have to get there early for those (or maybe they ship them out). Cost Plus World Market didn’t have a single candy item left and the Ralph’s and Von’s I stopped at also didn’t have any marked down candies - or perhaps they put them someplace I don’t go, like the meat department.

I’m going to do a roundup review of those things that are new here.