Chicago Candy Show 2010

May 26, 2010

Having recently attended the ISM candy show in Cologne, Germany, we have to admit we were a bit underwhelmed by the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago. Though it is the largest candy show in North America, it is much smaller than ISM, and most of the brands are familiar ones. That said, we’re glad we attended and did manage to reconnect with some of our favorite confectioners, as well as find a couple of new products for the store. And we are having a great time just being in Chicago!

One of the highlights for us was simply meeting the people behind the Boyer Candy Company. Their Mallo Cup is a store favorite – probably the candy Diane mentions the most when asked about her favorite candy growing up. At the store, we carry the Mallo Cup and also their Peanut Butter Smoothie, but have had a difficult time getting their plain Peanut Butter Cups. After hearing Diane’s impassioned pleas, however, they promised to make it happen. We’ll be sure to let you know as soon as our first shipment arrives!

Another old-school confectioner that we connected with at the show was NECCO. As many of you know, the company recently switched to using all-natural flavorings and colorings in their iconic NECCO wafers (and conversation hearts). It was a bold move that has met with mixed success – as you might imagine, there has been a bit of a backlash from some loyal fans of the candy (especially those who loved the lime flavor, which was nixed in the transition to natural). The company has held the line, however, and in fact they are about to introduce more changes to their candy line-up, improving the quality of the ingredients in another of their classics, the Clark Bar, and also adding a new Clark Bar Dark, made with dark chocolate. These new incarnations of the Clark Bar are made with all-natural ingredients, including real peanut butter and actual chocolate instead of a compound coating. As a store that sells a lot of nostalgic candy (including our fair share of NECCO wafers and Clark Bars), we are often wary of change in the candy world. But we’re going to go on record here in saying that we believe NECCO is moving in the right direction. All natural flavors and colors will eventually be the norm – many candy makers are already forced to manufacture separate lines of all-natural candies for some European markets. And both of the new Clark Bars are quite delicious to boot. Of course, we’ll still probably have to maintain a separate stash of artificially-flavored NECCO wafers in the back…

Unlike, say, the Fancy Food Show, the Chicago show is not known for showcasing an abundance of high-end chocolates. We were surprised, then, when a small chocolate company, Hoja Verde, contacted us a few weeks back asking us to visit their booth when we were at the show. We went to see them, and, wow, are we glad we did! Hoja Verde makes a small line of dark chocolate bars from high-quality Arriba beans grown in small plantations in Ecuador. We will be carrying all four of their bars, ranging from 58% to 100% cacao (that’s right, finally…a 100% bar for those of you who have been bugging us to carry one). Even the darkest bars retain the fruitiness of the shade-grown Arriba beans – after tasting these bars and those made by Claudio Corallo (also sold at our store), you will rethink the myth that Criollo beans are the only ones worthy of playing in the high-end chocolate game. Look for Hoja Verde’s amazing bars on our shelves in a couple of weeks.

And finally, the star of the show… For anyone of a certain age, the phrase “Smack It and Crack It” can mean only one thing: Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy.  Bonomo’s was the candy of the 50’s and 60’s, but it has not been made commercially since the mid 80’s. We can easily say that, in our store, at least, it is the most asked for of all discontinued candies (of course, Diane’s dad is the one doing most of the asking). There was a rumor a few years back that some guy on Long Island had secured the rights to the name and the original recipe and was attempting to bring the candy back. Since then, Diane has been contacting (i.e. stalking) this poor guy every couple of months to check on his progress. Well, we are happy to report that, as of this summer, Bonomo’s is back, baby! When Diane finally saw the boxes of vanilla, banana, chocolate and strawberry taffy on display at the show, she screamed so loud that heads turned on the other side of the hall. Tears streaming down her face, she quickly filled her bag with samples, but we had to leave quickly before the owner of the company arrived with a copy of his restraining order.

A few more photos from the show:

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