Country Store Report Snacks, Candy and Gourmet Gifts

By Genie Davis

If it’s time for a treat, such as candy, a snack, or a gourmet gift, country stores are a terrific place to make a stop. For this article, country store officials across the United States described their best-sellers and why they are so popular.

At Sweet Country Charm Fudge & Gifts in Payson, Ariz., Owner Rebecca Acord is all about the fudge – homemade fudge that is. “Right now, our top sellers are several new kinds of fudge I’ve made just for the holidays. There’s pumpkin latte, pumpkin pie, pumpkin caramel with cream cheese frosting, salted nut roll, and Divinity. Those are our current seasonal flavors, as well as traditional flavors that we offer all year.” Additionally, she said “We also have a special Christmas fudge, old fashioned penuche made with brown sugar that people buy quite a lot of.” Acord noted

“Throughout the year, we rotate through 109 different flavors of fudge, and there is always something new for people to try, along with the more traditional items.”

Along with fudge, Acord also does well with nostalgic candies for her wide-ranging demographic which she said “includes everyone, young and old, male and female. Everyone loves my fudge and the candies. I find nostalgic candy items that drive memories for older people and create new ones for younger people. Kids love the novelty candies, so we try to find things that appeal to them with this variety of items as well.”

She noted that deciding what edible gifts to stock is fairly simple for her. “I just never carry anything that you could find in a Walmart,” she laughed.

In Mesa, Ariz., at Orange Patch Too, Manager Katie Hunsacker described her top edible sellers as “Salsas and candy. They both do well for us because they are regional favorites where we are located, and they’re also unique items outside of our area. So, for both reasons they sell well,” she said. “Among the candies that do best for the store are items like prickly pear and cactus candy; we also do well with prickly pear jellies and jams,” she related. The store also does well with its own store-made fresh chocolate dipped dates and stuffed dates.

With a mix of shoppers skewing toward the tourist industry and winter-only residents, Hunsacker said that appealing to her customers is focused on offering a “pretty good mix of those regional items.”

These items also are attractive as gifts to be given to family and friends living elsewhere. She decided which type of edible gift to stock primarily based on what sells well within the store. “We do change it up in terms of our selection, but we have been with many of the providers we have for about the last twenty years. They are good quality items, and they perform well for us.”

On the east coast, at Brown & Hopkins in Chepachet, R.I., store Owner Liz Yuill , said her top sellers in candy and gourmet gifts include both nostalgic candies and Sweet Jubilee candies, the latter of which she said “do a phenomenal job with seasonal nonpareils and

“Right now, our top sellers are several new kinds of fudge I’ve made just for the holidays. There’s pumpkin latte, pumpkin pie, pumpkin caramel with cream cheese frosting, salted nut roll, and Divinity. Those are our current seasonal flavors, as well as traditional flavors that we offer all year.”

- Rebecca Acord, Sweet Country Charm Fudge & Gifts, Payson, Ariz.

delicious chocolate-covered animal crackers, caramel crackle toppers and other gift-type chocolates. Among our best-selling nostalgic candies are MaryJane’s and Satellite Wafers.”

These items sell well for several different reasons, she attested. “The gift chocolates are attractive, and well presented. The nostalgic candies are simply fun, and older generations enjoy introducing younger generations to what they had as a child, and that perpetuates

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Country Store Report (From page 95) their appeal.”

Yuill described her demographic mix as both locals and tourists. “We are in a quaint town with many historic buildings. Multiple generations come to shop here and come back year after year for our merchandise mix. We have lots of different items that appeal to just about everyone.”

She explained that the way she decides what she is going to sell is often based on both quality and price point. “Keeping things reasonably priced for gift items, say under $20, is important. For pick-up items, the types of things we keep by the counter as a changemaker if the customer has .75 cents left over, we try to have items that are .25 cents and up. Over the years you just get to know what will sell and what will not sell, and that’s a large part of what I select edible items based upon.”

At Edge General in Hearne, Texas, Manager Amy Barrett cited specialty hot sauces and canned goods such as preserves, pickles, and peaches as among her top sellers. “They do well for us because they look like they belong here in this 100-year-old building. We always like to keep the items we stock in line with the way the store itself looks. We don’t carry plastic containers or things like that. Even the Coca-Cola we sell comes in glass bottles.”

A mix of just about everyone coming into the store of all ages likes these items, she said, in part for their regional appeal and in part for their aesthetic. “Everyone who comes in likes to find something that fits what our store looks like. We focus on that, but one of the things I’ve learned over the years is to always carry things that you don’t like as well as what you do like. Chances are what you like, no one will else will be interested in buying,” she joked.

Overall, edible gifts, snacks, and candy are a big hit among a wide range of customers at country and general stores. Regional and locally made items have special appeal, as do food items that are made on-site, such as fudge or chocolate. And, even if specific best sellers change over time, one thing never will: sweets and treats always make for sweet sales. ❖

How Edible Gifts are Kept Fresh and Tasty

Asked how they keep edible gifts their freshest and tasting great, country store staff and owners offered their tips for keeping these products always in “good taste.”

At Sweet Country Charm Fudge & Gifts in Payson, Ariz., Owner Rebecca Acord has just added a freeze dryer to continue to preserve candy items she purchases, such as Bits of Honey. “That candy is good for 25 years if you don’t open it and it’s packaged properly. The freeze dryer just helps extend life and keep products fresh.” She noted, “All my fudge is made fresh and sells out before I have to consider how to keep it longer.”

In Mesa, Ariz., at Orange Patch Too, Manager Katie Hunsacker said “We watch the shelf life on our edible items, and we can freeze and refrigerate the salsas and jams we carry to help that time extend. We also have a refrigerated candy counter which is especially helpful for the candies we make on site like our handdipped chocolates.”

On the east coast, at Brown & Hopkins in Chepachet, R.I., store Owner Liz Yuill, described the best way to keep edible gifts fresh is “to sell a lot of them quickly. When you’re buying the items that you stock, you try to match up what you buy to what you know will sell quickly and won’t be hanging around too long. We also do not buy anything with a less than six-month shelf life,” she said. “We would love to carry fudge for example, but we do not, because fudge that’s made the way you like it with butter and cream has a very short shelf life.”

At Edge General Store in Hearne, Texas, Manager Amy Barrett asserted that the edible items she carries “usually have a long shelf life, the canned goods and preserves, and items like that. Also, our store is climate controlled, so that keeps things in good shape longer.” ❖