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 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.

Hershey’s Kisses

Hershey’s Kisses debuted on the candy scene in 1907. While it's not known exactly how Kisses got their name, one of the popular theories is that the candy was named for the sound or motion of the chocolate being deposited during the manufacturing process. While at first, the candies were individually hand-wrapped, the introduction of automation in the 1920s changed procedure forever.

This wrapping process has remained basically unchanged since it was developed in 1921. Current wrapping machines can package nearly 1,300 Kisses per minute. The familiar flag or plume that singles Hershey’s Kisses out was added to the packaging at this time as well then subsequently established as a registered trademark by company founder, Milton S. Hershey in 1924.

The shape and style of Hershey’s Kisses have not much in the last 80 years but this does not mean that there have not been small variations over the years. Many of these variations were produced in the early 1900s. Each one utilized different chocolate formulas and was offered in addition to the standard Hershey’s milk chocolate flavor.

Yet none of these variants have survived to the present. In fact, none has been produced since 1931. For those old enough to recall them or who might be a bit of the candy historian, names like Sweethearts, Silvertops, and Silverpoints may bring back fond memories.

There has been only one time in the entire history of their production that Hershey’s Kisses have been interrupted. The bite-size chocolates were not produced from 1942 to 1949 due to the rationing of silver foil during and after World War II. During the war, the ingredient mixing units in the Kisses molding department were utilized for tempering military ration bar chocolate paste. It is estimated that paste for more than 3 billion ration units was produced during this period.

Later, in 1962, the Kisses were wrapped in colored foil (other than silver) for the first time. Red, green and silver chocolates were available during the Christmas season in addition to the year-round silver-wrapped ones. In 1968, Kisses brand chocolates were introduced in pastel blue, pink and green foil for the Easter holiday. Hershey also introduced Valentine's Kisses with red and silver foil in 1986.

In September 1990, there was a major addition to the Hershey’s franchise when Kisses with almonds were successfully introduced. Then only three years later another addition to the Kisses line called Hershey’s Hugs which were mini Hershey’s Kisses combined with white chocolate.

There have been other limited edition flavor combinations as the candy company has sought to keep an edge with the competition. Yet, nothing can really compete with the enduring place that the Hershey’s Kiss has made for itself for nearly a hundred years.

Marzipan Candy

When it comes to this unusually named candy, the first thing many want to know is what exactly marzipan is.

Some claim that the candy originated in Persia and was later introduced to eastern Europe where it eventually became a specialty of the Baltic Sea region of Germany but the true origins are shrouded by time. Marzipan is confectionary made up of ground almonds, glucose, and sugar and derives its characteristic flavor from bitter almonds, which constitute 4% to 6% of total content by weight.

It is interesting to note that there are strictly-held guidelines by which to judge if what you have made is technically marzipan or whether the proper ingredients are present. For proper marzipan composition it must contain approximately 25% almonds to be considered marzipan.

Pastry chefs have used marzipan candy for many centuries to create a vast assortment of delectable treats. For instance, chefs have been using this delicious candy to fill cakes and cover them instead of using a more traditional frosting.

For this purpose, the marzipan is rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes. Traditionally, it is used in wedding cakes and Christmas cakes, as well as other specialty cakes. Though marzipan is a wonderful ingredient and looks beautiful and colorful as a cake decoration, it can be molded into almost any shape imaginable, including figurines.

Creating these small figures serves a dual purpose as they not only look good, but they are edible as well. Common examples include: marzipan-filled chocolate and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. The popularity of this candy is underscored by its nearly global presence is various recipes.

It should suffice to provide a few examples of how marzipan in used in other countries. In many of these countries it is shaped into small figures of animals, such as pigs, as a traditional treat for New Year's Day.

Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season. In Italy, particularly in Palermo, marzipan is often shaped and painted with food colorings to resemble fruit—Frutta martorana—especially during the Christmas season. This flexibility is one of the reasons for marzipan’s surge in popularity. You can use it in the creation of a variety of tasty treats.