Big Mo'
These Dale Earnhardt Jr.-branded bars exist for one reason: to extend the Earnhardt brand into the lucrative snack-foods market. And they taste like it. The simple caramel- or peanut-butter-filled chocolate bars aren't bad, just bland. And won't they melt like crazy at a NASCAR track?
Jelly Belly Bean Boozled jelly beans
Jelly Belly apparently enjoyed screwing with people with its Harry Potter-branded beans—which included flavors like Earwax, Dirt, Vomit, and more—because it's revisiting the gross-out theme with its new Bean Boozled line. Ten beans, 20 flavors. Each can be delicious (Top Banana) or disgusting (Pencil Shavings)—they're identical, so people can't tell them apart. Other nasty flavors: Skunk Spray, Rotten Egg, Ear Wax, Booger, Baby Wipes, Toothpaste, Vomit, Moldy Cheese, and Black Pepper. Pencil Shavings and Baby Wipes aren't all that bad, but Moldy Cheese and Vomit are brutal. We didn't have it in us to try more after that.
Too Tarts spray candy
Have American children gotten so lazy that they no longer want to chew their candy? Maybe, because candy sprays were all over McCormick Place. Innovative Candy Concepts had the biggest display and the largest line of spray candies, including its Melted Ice Cream line (blueberry, banana split, and strawberry). The experience is like using a sweet Binaca. They don't taste bad, but there's something unsatisfying about spraying candy into your mouth—like, "Okay, now what?" Um, maybe spray it again?
Landies Candies
Sugar-free chocolate: the non-alcoholic beer of the candy industry. Landies offers a full line of "TRULY SUGAR FREE" and organic chocolate and cookies. Sure, there's a national obesity epidemic, but there's a reason chocolate has sugar.
Pucker Powder
Ever wish you could eat sand art? Well, this is America, where no snack idea goes ignored: Pucker Powder lets you create "candy art" with tubes (6, 12, 18, or 34 inches) of brightly colored sour powder from special dispensers. What a country!
Wrench Mints
Yet another entry into the too-strong-breath-mint market. How's this one different? Um, it's shaped like a wrench and comes in a wrench-shaped tin. ("It's the only mint shaped like a wrench!" the hawkers earnestly stated.) At last, the candy industry taps into the lucrative mechanics' market.
The Odd
Mango Con Chile Gummys Muy Muy!
Mexican company Alyrka Snacks is introducing a line of fruit snacks and gummies to the U.S. The secret ingredient? Chili seasoning. Spicy candy may sound odd to people from El Norte, but it's an up-and-coming scene: Swiss chocolatier Lindt introduced a delicious cherry-chili dark chocolate at this year's convention. Muy Muy's mango-chile snack tastes surprisingly good at first, but it also has a you're-gonna-regret-this aftertaste.
Candicraft
Candy-filled pens that write on paper made of candy. It works about as well as you'd think.
Candy Grillz
Since its inception, candy has reflected the zeitgeist—just look at candy-filled pagers and cell phones. At this year's event, Candy Planet introduced Candy Grillz, which replaces the jewels in the ostentatious dental jewelry with candy. Take note, Paul Wall. And begin purchasing third homes, dentists.
Color-A-Cookie
Kids like cookies. Kids like coloring books. Can you say synergy? Color-A-Cookie combines them with drawings on top of flat cookies, which kids color with markers that offer different tastes, smells, and colors. Candy with elaborate, photorealistic graphics are big, too: Several vendors displayed them at this year's event. Really, what better way to say "happy anniversary" than with a chocolate heart topped with a photo of someone special?
The Gummi
• Bears, worms, and rings
• Ghouls
• Handcuffs
• Chocolate-covered bears
• Lunch boxes
• X-ray fish
• Mexican dinner
• Gecko
• Quarter burger
• Pizza
• Sharks
• Breast-cancer ribbons
It was just like trick-or-treating when we were young—more candy out there than we could possibly pick up. By mid-afternoon, the smallish paper carrying bags the convention had given us (and required us to use) were full, and we hadn't even hit the "Treasure House": the free-sample room where the business façade drops, and it's just grab, grab, grab—which we did, until our bags nearly burst. (There was a bin full of Take 5s!) Carrying several pounds and tens of thousands of calories' worth of candy, we headed back to the office, where we were greeted like heroes. Too bad All Candy Expo, like Halloween, only comes once a year.
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