Taste Treat Trends

Edible Gifts at Country and Candy Stores

Candy is so popular, it practically sells itself. But people are more likely to buy chocolates, fudge, taffies and other sweets if they have a local angle, or come in attractive packaging. “When it comes to gifts, we sell more of things that come in nice looking boxes and bags, which for us are mostly our taffies and chocolates,” reported Manager Kirsten Music , of Candy Heaven in Sacramento, Calif. “People like it because they’re in and out with a gift that’s ready to go.”

Homemade taffies are a customer favorite at the 19-year-old Sacramento emporium. Popular assortments include “hot” taffies with a spicy kick, and summer lemonade flavors. Liquid and squeezable sour candies are also top sellers, especially with children.

Tourists in Montana and Wyoming favor sweets with regional flavors like cherry and huckleberry, which grows wild in the mountains. “People love picking up a little a wild mountain berry, and the best time to harvest it is from mid-July to early August — a very short period of time. And they’re very small berries, so picking them is very time consuming.” gift that says Montana on it, like locally made jam with cherries we buy from our nearby orchard,” said Janice Roberts , manager, Electric Avenue Gifts in Big Fork, Mont. The store carries a variety of Montana-made cherry products, from barbecue sauce to ice cream topping. Electric Avenue’s top-selling item is a jam combining cherry and huckleberry, “a sweet souvenir,” Roberts said. There’s even a cherry brownie mix, “which is popular in Continued on page 56

- Steve Sykes, Five and Dime General Store, Jackson, Wyo., who said shoppers buy up merchandise with the distinctive taste of huckleberry, including licorice, jam, taffy, gummy bears, and more.