Sweetness filled the air this week as the National Confectioners Association hosted their annual trade show at the McCormick Place, Lakeside Center. Industry insiders like candy exporters, distributors, suppliers, brokers, retailers, and other candy experts were invited June 6 to 8 to get a sneak peak and taste of the latest candy trends—the event, unfortunately, was not open to the general public. The expo offered attendees the opportunity to sample various types of confections offered by more than 450 manufacturers from all over the world.
Candy manufacturers producing every treat imaginable were on hand to serve up something for every taste. The event featured everything from candy that made music to plain-old bubble gum to premium quality single-bean chocolates to alternative style natural snacks, including sugar free/diabetic friendly treats. Representatives from large, well known, global corporations gathered as well as many from small family-owned businesses from small town America.
"I don't [come here] to see Hershey's or the large corporations," says Margy Kaye, who was attending the expo. "I'm interested in the handmade, smaller companies that are going in the same direction I am."
Margy is the owner of a small, Chicago-based company known as Confection Diva, Inc. Her dark-chocolate, hand-dipped toffee sells in various retail stores around the Chicago area and over the internet.
So how does one go from an interest in candy to a bonafide confection diva? "I fell into it," explains Margy, who mentions that her candy making started out as a hobby but turned into a passion.
"The recipe for toffee is pretty generic," says Margy, "but I think the quality of the ingredients used and the temperature of the toffee make it unique."
A key component in her product is chocolate, and Margy made a point of scoping out its varieties at the expo. "It's like fine wines now," she said, "It's very sophisticated. It's not just milk and dark and semi-sweet. There are all these ranges and percentages. This is a learning experience from every angle."
Of course, every imaginable (and unimaginable) type of chocolate was featured— the expo was a chocoholic's paradise. Klingele Belgian Chocolate, a company out of Belgium, had samples of some outstanding single bean chocolate—top notch for those who like just a plain bar of chocolate. For chocolate truffles, a German company called Gut Springenheide had a very delicious cream-filled truffle which they actually placed inside the shell of a real egg.
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One could see that these candy manufacturers were clearly working hard to churn out good stuff for us to enjoy, but some seemed to stand out above the rest.
If you're a fudge person you'll love Nancy's Homemade Fudge. This Virginia-based company makes some excellent fudge in a variety of traditional flavors such as maple nut, pumpkin, or chocolate pecan. If you like some untraditional flavors, Country Fresh Foods and Confections has a large assortment of fudge flavored with a variety of tasty things such as hot chile sauce or Courvoisier.
Nut lovers would enjoy the fantastic Pistachio Crunch presented by Mareblu Naturals. This company has a wide variety of nut treats which they offer as natural snacks.
Those who enjoy hard candy should check out the Melville Candy Company which offers a huge assortment of lollipops of every shape, size, color, and flavor. They also have flavored tea spoons for those who like to add some extra flavor to their tea or coffee.
And it wasn't just the flavor of the candy that caught the attention of convention goers. Two novelty candy makers' booths remained consistently crowded. One had a type of candy called the "Soda Pop Top" produced by Eagle River USA. The Soda Pop Top comes in six different flavors. It is basically a lollipop which can be screwed onto any pop or water bottle adding more flavor to one's favorite drink. Many people were also gathered around the Chocolate Printing Company which was promoting its unique technology they call "Chocolography" by way of which any computer image can be transferred onto the surface of chocolate.
Finally, for those who like fruit flavors there is a company out of Washington state called Liberty Orchards whose fine candies can only be described as exquisite. They have a variety of fruit and nut flavored confections such as blueberry-pecan and cranberry-walnut which are simply some of the best anywhere.
While you may not have had a chance to see what was new in candy this week at the All Candy Expo, many of these confections are available online (a list of the exhibitors are available at AllCandyExpo.com) and with any luck some will soon hit a store near you.
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