Snacks, Candy and Gourmet Products

ent cultural styles of candy. We have sweet and savory items imported from Japan, British-themed candies, and Asian-inspired candy assortments that we sell that way.”

At Cousin’s Candy Shop, in San Diego, Calif., Sales Associate Noah Berrigen , speaking for owner Judy McCord, described best-sellers at the old-fashioned confectionery shop as store-made fudge and taffy. “We have a wide range of flavors of both items, and the fact that they’re made right here makes them really appealing gifts.” Mailed gift items, both in California and out, also focus on the house-created fudge. “No matter where its being sent, people will find a flavor they like, or want to gift, it’s individual.” Seasonal flavors of the fudge specifically have appeal as mailed items. “Holiday eggnog and cappuccino flavors are very popular, and of course chocolate and chocolate peanut butter are always hits.”

Equally popular are candy bars that are custommade for the store. “We have San Diego Bourbon bars, s’more’s bars, a coffee bar. We ship a lot of those and we also sell them in the store; they make great gifts.”

For 2022, he related, “We are always widening the variety of candy we carry, and we definitely plan to get more imported items from Mexico and Germany. This year we did a Harry Potter-themed candy test run, and it did well, so we will be offering more of that, chocolate wizard cards, a golden Snitch candy, Bertie Bott’s Beans, things like that.”

“We sell a lot of character tins with the candy it matches inside. One of our most popular gift items is a Sour Patch Kids character-shaped tin with Sour Patch candy inside; we also have a Nerds tin, and a Swedish fish tin. They all do very well.”

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Randy Brinker , owner of Sweet Mickey’s Seattle has an entirely unique selection of candy in the Ballard neighborhood of the city. “The area we are in has a very Norwegian population. So, our top sellers are often traditional items from Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway as far as gifts are concerned. Those are primarily licorice-flavored candies. Icelandic chocolate

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