Brach’s Candy

Founded by, German emigrant Emil J. Brach in 1904, Brach’s Candy quickly expanded from the initial small storefront shop on the corner of North Avenue and Towne Street in Chicago, IL, to become one of America's largest candy companies in a relatively brief period of time. Emil Brach was not alone in this endeavor, but was joined by his two sons, Edwin and Frank.

The Brach family has a definite recipe for success. The key to this success was to produce the highest quality candy, using the most up-to-date manufacturing and distribution processes available, and finally offer the customers a wide variety of products at a fair price. They built the business making and selling great-tasting, high-quality candies at a fair price.

The Brachs soon outgrew their first store and moved to Des Plaines Street on the west side of Chicago in May of 1906. Peanut and hard candies were added to the line of caramels that were already making a name for the fledgling candy company.

By 1909 the company's growth required a second move, this time to a new location at the corner of LaSalle and Illinois Avenue. The production line expanded to include coconut nougats and other hard candies. Throughout all of this growth, the rate of candy produced per pound rose phenomenally as the Brachs kept expansion of both facilities and employee numbers growing as well.

In 1913, the factory and offices moved to an even larger facility on East Illinois Street. Here Brach's added chocolate dipping and icing and cream dipping, and installed a marshmallow line and a department for panned candies. Quality was always foremost concern for the Brachs. The company backed its candy with a thirty-day money-back guarantee, and they were also the first candy company to have a state-of-the-art laboratory to inspect ingredients. In 1915 and 1916 they expanded this facility. Finally in 1923 Emil moved all operations to a new facility at the intersection of Kilpatrick, Ferdinand, and the Beltline Rail Road tracks.

They sold not only to department stores, but also to thousands of small corner stores and general merchandisers. Brach's was the first company to introduce barrels as a new and unique way to get additional display area in the stores. Next they introduced boxes with glass covers to keep the candy fresh. Impressive display cases involving candy stations, where the products could be mixed and weighed in the store, soon followed.

Today, Brach's remains a leader in the manufacture of staple (everyday) candy and seasonal candy; and the fastest-growing fruit snacks company in the U.S. Though no longer owned by the Brach’s family, the company still strives to maintain the quality and the reputation that made the brand a household name. This does not appear likely to change any time soon.

Bulk Candy

Are you planning a Christmas function and need to purchase a large volume of candy for the event? Maybe you are throwing a graduation party for your son or daughter? Do you need a variety of wholesale candy for students in your class on Valentine's Day? Planning to supply the candy for a corporate party at work? These are just some of the examples where having bulk candy available would be just the thing to make these special occasions go smoothly or add a little flair.

Early on, most candy companies realized that the need large quantities of candy rather than individual pieces would become more and more of an issue as the economy grew and more and more businesses set aside time for special events where having party favors might include having candy on hand.

Being able to purchase bulk candy at lower or wholesale prices prompted many of these companies to expand their operations to cater to needs. You could purchase big bags of bulk candy in your local supermarket or order them direct from the companies if the quantities needed were especially large.

As the years went by and technology improved, methods of purchasing bulk candy changed as well. With the emergence of the worldwide web, the bulk candy markets received a big boost.

Not only did established companies like Brach’s and Hershey’s have new ways to both attract the attention of customers surfing the net, they seized the opportunity to create online bulk candy distribution centers. Now you could actually order candy online and have it shipped directly to your house or business. It has been a remarkable innovation, certainly.

Following these big players, smaller independent candy distributors posted websites offering wholesale bulk candy as well. Today, the internet hosts thousands of these kinds of sites. Each one offering deals on either the types of candies they have available or the prices they sell them for.

This is the perfect avenue for small businesses that have candy displays or for refilling vending machines. Often, rather than going the local market to find the normal run of bulk candy, consumers are looking for specialty items or bulk candy that can be augmented with personal touches.

No matter what you need bulk candy for, you can be sure to find plenty of it online for the taking.

Candy Apples

Whether served fresh at carnivals or packaged in the local grocery store, the candy apple has been a tasty treat that scores people, children and adult alike, have savored for many years. In fact, some research has suggested that the methods employed in the making of candy apples date back into ancient times where the practice of coating fruit in sugar syrup for preservative reasons was common.

Furthermore, food historians generally agree that the existence of what we currently call candy apples and caramel (toffee) apples probably date to the late 19th century, although this is difficult to prove in print. Both toffee and caramel are traced to the early decades of the 18th century. Inexpensive toffee/caramels became available by the end of the 19th century. Culinary evidence confirms a variety of recipes, from simple candy to creamy toffee/caramel coating.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives on quotations relating to toffee apples earlier than the beginning of the 20th century. However, the use of the term as a soldier's slang for a type of bomb used in World War I suggests that they were already well known, and probably have a longer history than the quotations allow.

In the phrase toffee apple the word toffee means simple boiled sugar, not the mixture of sugar and dairy produce which is what the word normally refers to. This may be another indication of an older origin. There is some similarity between toffee apples and the Chinese dessert items which consist of pieces of banana or apple fried in batter and then coated in caramelized syrup. Whether there is any historical connection is not clear.

In order to make candy apples, first, you need to remove stem from each apple. Wash and dry each apple. Insert wooden stir stick for holding in the center of stem end then set them aside. Now you are going to grease a baking sheet, then set this aside for later as well.

In 12-cup heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, water and corn syrup; cook, stirring, over medium-low heat for 8 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, brushing down side of pan occasionally with brush dipped in hot water to prevent crystallization. Boil, brushing down side occasionally but not stirring, for 15 to 25 minutes or until at soft-crack stage of 290 degrees

Fahrenheit on candy thermometer, or until half a teaspoon of syrup dropped into cold water separates into hard but pliable threads. Then remove syrup from heat; very quickly stir in red food coloring. Immediately plunge bottom of pan into ice water and hold for about 15 seconds or until sizzling stops. Holding each apple by wooden stick and tilting saucepan, swirl each apple in candy syrup until well coated all over. Lift apple and quickly swirl over pan to allow excess to drip off. Place on prepared baking sheet; let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or until hardened. Now you have fresh delicious candy apples to enjoy.

Candy Cane

The red-and-white-striped, sugary candy known as the candy cane can be found everywhere during the Christmas season. It's as much an ornament as it is a confection, and people munch these treats and decorate with them, scarcely giving a thought to just where candy canes came from in the first place.

Candy canes didn't appear until at least the latter part of the 17th century, by which time Europe was almost entirely Christian. By then, people who were not Christians would have been the ones in need of this form of "secret handshake"!

When the practice of using Christmas trees to celebrate Christmas became popular in Europe the people there began making decorations for their trees. Many of the decorations were food items including cookies and candy. The predecessor of our modern candy cane appeared at about this time in the seventeenth century. These were straight, white sticks of sugar candy.

Pageants of living crèches were a common part of the Christmas celebration at the Cologne Cathedral. In about 1670, the choirmaster there had sticks of candy bent into the shape of a shepherd’s crook and passed them out to children who attended the ceremonies. This became a popular tradition, and eventually the practice of passing out the sugar canes at living crèches ceremonies spread throughout Europe.

The use of candy canes on Christmas trees made its way to America by the 1800’s, however during this time they were still pure white. They are represented this way on Christmas cards made before 1900, and it is not until the early 20th century that they appear with their familiar red stripes.

Claims made about the candy's religious symbolism have become increasingly widespread as religious leaders have assured their congregations that these mythologies are factual, the press has published these claims as authoritative answers to readers' inquiries about the confection's meaning, and several lavishly illustrated books purport to tell the "true story" of the candy cane's origins.

When you examine the claims of much of these recent popular treatments, you come away with little more than bits of folklore being pressed for more validity than they were meant to have.

Candy Molds

The candy mold is the defining element of candy making no matter if you are making chocolate candy bars or hard candies like peppermints, you will need one.

Having a candy mold allows for consistent reproduction of candy again and again. In the commercial production of candy massive molds are used to provide a tremendous output of candy per minute while small individual molds are more useful with at-home candy making adventures. The point is that whatever your scale, there should be a candy mold option open for you.

For those searching for just the right mold, there are many options available today including several websites online that specialize in the sales of candy molds for every possible occasion from holidays to special promotions, if you find the right website you will have access to all of the candy molds you will need.

Candy mold designs are only limited by the imagination of mold creator and there thousands of unique designs already available for those who want to make their own candy. Even the right candy mold cannot be found there is always the option of having one made from scratch.

Related to this notion, is similar option that has appeal with some people, or in other words, the idea of constructing their own candy molds. As with those who already specialize in making molds there are websites that sell the materials for making the mold—be it silicone, other heavy plastics, and even metal—and those interested will be able to find a lot of variety here.

Making candy has taken on more appeal as the availability of the tools and materials to accomplish this have become more readily available. This has lead to a surge in amateur candy makers taking up the craft to flex a bit of creative muscle to make tasty morsels all their own. Even businesses like catering companies have taken a look at the possibilities and many now are making specialized candies that show yet another aspect of their business prowess.

Again, it doesn’t matter what sort of candy mold you might be searching for. You can find what you want if you look enough at what is possible, talk to some professionals and maybe even do a bit of experimenting on your own.

Chocolate Candy

Whenever someone says chocolate, it normally means chocolate candy. The connection is immediate. In America, chocolate remains the most popular candy, far surpassing all other types of candy being sold. Many of us have a great deal of passion for our chocolate. Often called “chocoholics,” we can attest to some obvious addictive properties in the candy bars and chocolate desserts we munch almost daily.

Today, there are so many varieties of chocolate candy available that it would be difficult to list them all but the form most often utilized by candy-makers is the candy bar. Names like Hershey’s, Nestle, Cadbury, are synonymous with chocolate candy. These companies have made billions of dollars creating their cocoa confections for nearly a century. This success is based on a simple formula: creating the best tasting chocolate candy possible. The heritage of many of these companies is founded on this desire to achieve optimum product quality and customer satisfaction.

Commensurate with the success of the big candy makers, is the popularity of making chocolate candy on the small scale. Small locally owned and operated candy stores make a living not only selling their chocolate candies but manufacturing them as well. Creating gourmet chocolate candy is big draw for these tiny candymakers who want to produce chocolate candy that incorporates elaborate decoration and supreme quality of ingredients.

If candy making isn’t a primary occupation, then making chocolate candy is a wholly different matter. Some of principles are the same. The methods used to create many of the candies are identically, albeit, they will be on a much smaller scale than either of the previously mentioned sources of chocolate candy. In these instances, it typically becomes a matter of hobby rather than sales. Yet with a marketing tool like the internet at one’s disposal, you can take what is currently a hobby and make an online candy business all its own.

It is no surprise that there are already several online chocolate candy businesses operating on the internet, capitalizing on the fact that many people are buying even their food online. It doesn’t seem like such a stretch to browse the candy store from your computer screen.

Cotton Candy

Cotton candy has had an interesting and varied history since its emergence at in the last year of the nineteenth century, as speculation and uncertain surround its very creation. Historians are not exactly sure who it was that first invented the delicious candy treat loved by millions of circus and amusement parks across the country. Generally, four people are associated with the origins of cotton candy, and each one for slightly different reasons, and yet all have received recognition at different times as the inventor of cotton candy.

John C. Wharton and William Morrison, two candy makers from Tennessee, received a patent for their cotton candy machine in 1899. Their machine ran by electrical power and involved a process which melted and spun sugar through tiny holes using centrifugal force. Wharton and Morrison went on to introduce their amazing new invention at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
Next we have Thomas Patton who received a separate patent around 1900 for different process of making cotton candy than that introduced by Wharton and Morrison. Patton had been experimenting with ways of caramelizing sugar and thereafter forming threads by the use of a big fork. In order to get the threads to spin and he employed a gas-fired rotating plate. Patton’s design worked well enough that he was able market his product at no less than the Ringley Brother’s Circus. Its resultant popularity with the children was hardly unexpected.

At about the same time that Patton was wowing circuses with his brand of cotton candy, a Louisiana dentist named Josef Delarose Lascaux had managed to create his own form of cotton candy which interestingly enough he offer at his dental practice. Unlike the others around at the time of cotton candy’s inception, Lascaux never received a single patent or trademark for the confection.

Here’s the more interesting question. How is cotton candy made?

Cotton candy is very simple to make. First sugar is melted into a liquid state by a built in heater and then it is spun in the cotton candy machine. The motion of the machine forces the liquefied sugar through thousands of tiny holes that shape and cool it. The moment these thin threads of sugar hit the air, they cool and re-solidify, so in the bowl of the machine a web of sugar threads develops that are collected and served on a stick or in a cone.

Gummi Bears Candy

Hans Riegel, a Bonn Germany-based candymaker, invented gummi bears (the first gummi candy) and gummi candy during the 1920s, with the bear-shaped candy debuting in 1922. Initially, he called his invention the ‘dancing bear" and named the company that manufactured the bears "Haribo,” which is an acronym for Hans Riegel Bonn. The confection became popular by the end of its first year. Later the company introduced its Gold-Bear product in the 1960s.

For many years, gummi bears were imported to America. American high school students were among the first Americans to know about the gummi bear. They learned about the candy through their German classes. In 1981, the Herman Goelitz Company (now Jelly Belly Candy Company) created the first American-made gummi bear. A year later, the Haribo Company brought their business to the U.S., and the candy was now easily accessible to Americans.

The success of gummi bears has spawned many gummi animals and objects: worms, frogs, hamburgers, cherries, cola bottles, sharks, apples, and oranges. Many generic brands of gummi bears are available on the market. Trolli is a well-known knockoff gummi candy manufacturer and was the first to introduce "gummi worms" in 1981.

How are gummi bears and other gummi candies made? The gummi manufacturing process is a long procedure that begins with artists for the manufacturer’s company.

Artists start with a character sketch and then carve it into tiny plaster molds. Then, machines duplicate the molds. The duplicates are run through a starch powder machine to produce starch powder mold pans.

In the factory, candy makers pour ingredients into large boilers. Some of the ingredients include gelatin, sugar and glucose syrup. Then the ingredients are heated together and constantly stirred by large paddles. Colors and flavorings are added to give the gummi snacks their distinct look and taste. Next, pipes transfer the mixture to the production area.

Nozzles are used to squeeze the mix out onto the starch pans where it is left to sit for three to five days. Afterwards, beeswax is added to make the candy shiny and less sticky. Finally, the gummi candies are transferred to a packaging machine and prepared for shipment.