Archive for October, 2022

We remember, as kids, our parents gifting us with a Chocolate Christmas Advent Calendar every holiday season and opening the doors of the calendar with us every day as we counted down to Christmas. Some advent calendars contained chocolate (our favorite), and others had small gifts or holiday-themed photos inside. Traditions come and go, but chocolate advent calendars will always prove to be timeless.

Thanksgiving isn’t typically considered a gift-giving holiday, but why not turn it into one? Chocolate advent calendars start on December 1^st, so gifting the children in your family with the advent calendars on Thanksgiving is a great way to start or continue a tradition – just make sure they don’t start opening the 24 little chocolates inside just yet!

Advent calendars have a long, rich history, and are designed to help kids reflect on the real meaning of Christmas as they open each of the 24 “windows” on the countdown to the big day. Set aside time, such as right after dinner, to open the day’s window, enjoy the chocolate, and share a holiday memory that is important to your family.

Chocolate advent calendars celebrate the countdown to Christmas, and your child will love having celebrated each day in such a sweet way. On Christmas morning, before your child tears into her or his presents, give your child one of our full-size chocolate candy bars with a note from Santa as a whimsical, personal touch to the chocolate advent calendar tradition in your home.

For 2022, be sure to check out our selection of Advent Calendars that include some favorites including Mickey Mouse, Blue’s Clues, Harry Potter, and a fan favorite – the Elf on the Shelf Advent Calendar.

Advent calendars have been around for hundreds of years, and we just love how they put a scrumptious, kid-friendly spin on a fantastic Christmas tradition. Here’s to a chocolate tradition that will stand the test of time – as chocolate ones just tend to do!

As a family-owned business for over 80 years, Blair Candy Company loves to share stories about other entrepreneurial family businesses, and one, in particular, comes to mind every year around this time – Bobs Candy Canes (no apostrophe!).

Bobs Candy Canes is a Christmas tradition, and like us, they have a rich history that we just love to tell. Grab a cup of hot cocoa, a comfy chair, and a Bobs Candy Cane while we treat you to the story of how a famous candy company came to be!

Bob’s Candies started out as McCormack’s Famous Candy Company in 1919, founded by Bob McCormack. The company saw success selling coconut, peanut sticks, hard candy, and taffy candies, and the boxes came emblazoned with “BOBS” on the front, and the iconic slogan, “I am Pure and Sweet.” There may have been sugar shortages during WWI, but Bob saw no shortage of candy success!

McCormack’s Famous Candy Company was growing faster than ever, and Bob Mills stepped in to help with administration. Together, Bob McCormack and Mills bought out the other investors, and in 1924, renamed the company Bobs Candy Company – creators of the Bobs Candy Canes we know and love today!

The Great Depression brought an end to many companies, but the strength and perseverance of “the Bobs” helped the company stay in business, and eventually expanded to salted peanuts, peanut candies, peanut brittle, and more. Then, in February of 1940, a tornado tragically leveled Bobs Candy Company.

With no tornado insurance, Bobs started from scratch, and within a short six months, Bobs was back up and running. With WWII candy rations taking hold, the company began vacuum-packing its candy to help it stay on the shelves longer – just like the Bobs Candy Canes we enjoy today.

The candy innovators also introduced attractive in-store supermarket advertising to entice customers to buy, and business picked up more and more. Finally, towards the end of the 1950s, the company was creating half a million Bobs Candy Canes every day, with $3.3 million in annual sales. Today, Ferrara Candy Company owns Bobs Candy Company, but the spirit of its strong founders continues to live on and Bobs Candy Canes continue to be a cherished holiday tradition.

Now that you know the story behind one of the most famous candy cane brands in history, it’s time to pick up a box along with all of your other Christmas candy favorites!

All of your employees work so hard throughout the year and dedicate their time and energy to ensuring your business succeeds. It’s important to show your appreciation for their hard work all year round, especially throughout the holiday season.

Christmas candy and holiday chocolates make for great corporate holiday gifts. We pride ourselves on always pricing our candy affordably, so you can create delicious office candy gifts at prices that won’t break your budget. Here are just a few for you to consider:

Candy Lovers HERSHEY’S Gift Tin
The holidays can be stressful for everyone, and we bet you didn’t know that chocolate candy was been shown to be a mood booster and can also bring about feelings of relaxation!  There’s no better way to say “thank you” for working extra-hard during the busy holiday season than with one of these HERSHEY’S gift tins chock full of favorites like HERSHEY Kisses and a great assortment of delicious full-size HERSHEY candy bars.

Candy Lover’s Assorted Gift Tin
We know that chocolate isn’t everyone’s favorite (gasp!), so we’ve got the perfect gift for the non-chocolate candy fans out there.  Our Candy Lover’s Assorted Gift Tin is packed with some of our most popular candies including Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Starburst, Twizzlers, Skittles, Dots, Gummi Fish, and more!

Jelly Belly 49 Flavor Gift Can
Who can resist a Jelly Belly Jelly Bean?  We know we can’t!  Once we see a bowl full of these flavorful beans we swoop in to grab a handful and try to figure out the flavor as we eat them one by one.  This gift can contains all of Jelly Belly’s 49 flavors so the recipient can get taste them all.  It truly is a sweet and flavorful gift for any candy lover.

After gifting each of your team members with a bit of Christmas candy, give out a raffle ticket to each person. Raffle off a few baskets perhaps filled with wine, gift certificates to local restaurants, movie rental gift certificates, and other items to create an enjoyable evening for your team members!

Browse all our Christmas candy and use your imagination to create different candy gifts that capture the spirit of your business. Your employees will surely enjoy the chocolate candy gifts, and will be all smiles at seeing how much you appreciate and care for them!

The kids are back in school, the leaves are starting to change colors, and there’s a noticeable chill in the air.  What could that mean?  Well, it’s pumpkin spice season, or that time of year officially known as fall.

One fall tradition we have around here is to gather everyone around a nice fire and make s’mores.  Besides being a favorite fall treat, s’mores are perfect when you’re looking for a family activity that won’t break the bank and is sure to please everyone.

They’re so easy to make with or without the aforementioned fire and we’re here to walk you through the steps both ways.  So let’s get started.

To make s’mores, you’re only going to need three ingredients:

• HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate Bars
• Graham Crackers
• Marshmallows

Now, let’s go the simple route first… making s’mores in the microwave:

1. Take your graham crackers and break them in half.
2. Break the HERSHEY’S chocolate bar in half; then center one half on each of the graham cracker halves.
3. Top each half with a marshmallow then place on a paper towel.
4. Microwave at medium (50%) in 10-second intervals until the marshmallow puffs.
5. Place one graham cracker half on top of the other and press together gently.
6. Let stand for 1 minute to soften the chocolate and enjoy!

If you have a backyard fire pit or even a living room fireplace, here are directions for making s’mores over a fire:

1. Prepare the fire and make sure it’s not a “rolling fire” but logs are red hot.
2. Take your graham crackers and break them in half.
3. Break the HERSHEY’S chocolate bar in half; then center one half of each on the graham cracker halves.
4. Place a marshmallow on a stick or skewer and hold it over the heat, rotating frequently, until the outside is a golden brown and the inside is nice and gooey.
5. Remove the marshmallow from the fire and place it on top of one half of the graham cracker.
6. Place the other half of the graham cracker on top and press them together gently.

Wasn’t that easy!  S’mores are so much fun to make and even more fun to eat, but we also realize there are some of you who aren’t that “great” in the kitchen, so we’ve got a really, really, really easy way for you to make s’smores!

Making s’mores without ingredients, a microwave, or fire:

1. Buy a box of Gardner’s S’mores candy bars.
2. Wait for them to be delivered to your door.
3. Open box.
4. Open package.
5. Eat.

Gardner’s S’mores are a delicious way to enjoy this fantastic fall treat without any work.  Their chocolate is creamy, dreamy, and oh-so-great, and coupled with graham crackers and a fluffy marshmallow, you’re going to find it pretty hard not to eat the whole box right away.