Specialty Food Magazine

SEP 2012

Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.

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(continued from p. 38) CANDY COUNTER nostalgia-tinged item to offer: a choco- late advent calendar filled with all-natural truffles. The picture box depicts two chil- dren looking out a frosty window at the moon and catching a glimpse of Santa on his sleigh. Each door hides an individually wrapped truffle and reveals a hidden mes- sage once all doors are opened. Dressed Up Reindeer Corn and Jelly Beans The first Reindeer Corn—candy corn col- ored red, green and white—hit the market more than 15 years ago, and sales have stayed strong since. "We were the first to pioneer seasonal candy corn like this, and it's a popular treat every year," says John Pola, vice president of specialty sales for Jelly Belly Candy Company. In fact, Reindeer Corn is one of the company's top-selling holiday products, he notes. "It's become a classic seasonal treat. It appeals to everyone, is bright and colorful and is just as fun for a candy dish or a stocking stuffer." Jelly Belly's new, elegant red holiday bags have a cello window that shows off the products inside. "This is the most dramatic move we've made in packaging in a long time," Pola says of the new designs. "Our research showed that consumers wanted an upscale look to match their gourmet tastes. We believe in this product so much that we invested in new packaging equipment specifically for this beautiful bag." All of Jelly Belly's Christmas confec- tions will be available in the new red bags, ranging in size from 4.75 ounces to 7.5 ounces, including Reindeer Corn, Candy Cane and Christmas Mix Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, Chocolate Dutch Mints, Chocolate Malt Balls, Jingle Bell Jells, Sour Gummi Santas and Sugar Plums. Nearly the entire range is available as part of Jelly Belly's Christmas Deluxe Mix, a collection of jelly beans, foil-wrapped chocolate, Mellocremes and more. Truffles So Good, You'll Melt Consumers searching for confections that conjure up happy holiday memories while also thrilling their elevated adult palates can turn to Moonstruck Chocolate Co.'s line of holiday-themed chocolates such as Candy Cane Truffles, as well as Milk and Extra-Bittersweet Penguin truffles. "One new truffle that we are excited about is our Carrot Cake Snowman Truffle, featuring a unique milk chocolate carrot cake ganache," says Jihae Lim, marketing coordinator for the Portland, Ore., chocolatier. Some flavors created specifically for the holidays, like the Bourbon Caramel & Gingerbread Eclipse Truffle in the choco- latier's Eclipse Collection, become bigger hits than expected. "With the Bourbon Caramel & Gingerbread Eclipse Truffle, we wanted the perfect flavor profile for the holidays, decorated accordingly—hence the hand-painted poinsettia flower on top. This beautiful piece features a heavenly house- made Knob Creek bourbon caramel center, with woodsy maple sugar notes, enveloped in a milk chocolate gingerbread ganache and enrobed in dark chocolate," Lim says. "This flavor profile was so popular that we decided to keep it in the lineup throughout the year." Led by master chocolatier Julian Rose, the team at Moonstruck invites peers to be a part of the creation process. "Feedback from our retailers and customers provide a wealth of information," Lim explains. "From that, we come up with a product list that [Rose] then uses to create new, or rework return- ing, recipes. Sometimes he gets a burst of inspiration and will come back with some- thing that is so amazing we add it to our lineup immediately." |SFM| Denise Shoukas is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine. 118 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE ❘ specialtyfood.com FOODS IN FOCUS (continued from p. 56) toasted walnuts and Kalamata olives in a feuille de brick dough," he says. Traditional merchandising of fro- zen hors d'oeuvres is also evolving. David Bennett, co-owner of the Bay Area's Mollie Stone's Markets, reveals that by the time the holiday season kicks in, frozen hors d'oeuvres will all be grouped together and no longer merchandized by brand. "Before, we had all the Amy's together, all the Annie Chun's, and we took an objective look at how to market ourselves better," he says. "By looking around at the industry and seeing what our competitors were doing, we felt we were doing a poor job in frozen. Our charcuterie and cheese marketing has been very successful for us, but for frozen hors d'oeuvres we have not been leading the way." To change up their strategy, Bennett said Mollie's would also be updating its frozen product selection, adding more filled pastry cups, mini hamburgers, small tama- les and pizza bites. "I'm so disappointed when I show up at a party and see that they're serving common bulk hors d'oeuvres from a warehouse store. I'm a realist and know that big box store hors d'oeuvres are not going away, but I want our selections to be exciting and unusual. There's so much out there now we can all do better." One key element that is true of many of this year's selections is that they are all perfect for no-stress holiday entertaining. The Scrumptious Pantry's Greene says that ease, flavor and freshness are what it's all about when it comes to home entertain- ing. "At holiday time you might be seeing people you only see once a year. I don't want them to be in the living room having drinks while I'm in the kitchen cooking. Food should bring people together." |SFM| Julie Besonen is the food editor for Paper magazine and restaurant columnist for nycgo.com. FIND HOLIDAY APPETIZER RECIPES at specialtyfood.com/ onlinehighlights. PHOTO: JELLY BELLY CANDY CO.

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