Bulk Candy Ideas for Your Next Get-together

Halloween is easily the biggest candy holiday of the year in America. Trick-or-treaters can help themselves to over 2 billion dollars worth of sweets, on what has become the second largest commercial holiday in the U.S. behind Christmas. But Halloween isn’t the only time we consume candy. In fact, most folks eat it quite regularly.

According to a recent study, the average American eats more than 26 pounds of candy, which has created a 20 billion dollar per year industry. Not surprisingly, the single most popular ingredient in most of the candy we eat is chocolate. The average person consumes about 12 pounds of it per annum.

What do we like?

Although they did not invent it, The Hershey Company brought the chocolate bar to the masses. Their milk chocolate bars were the first wrapped chocolate candies that were offered on a large scale. Before this time, candy was simply sold by weight. Individual wrapping transformed candy into a durable and portable snack. The only downside was that candy got more expensive. The machinery that is needed to wrap each bar or sweet treat is costly and requires regular maintenance. It is for this reason that it is still more affordable to buy candy loose, or in bulk.

What is bulk candy?

As we mentioned, packaging isn’t cheap, but it is convenient. It lets candy lovers carry treats in their pockets or bags without having to worry about them melting and causing a mess. Candy that is sold by weight is generally unwrapped and is placed into paper of plastic bags for future enjoyment. Because the profit margins are higher, most candy companies wrap their products these days.

Where can you find it?

The candy aisle of your local supermarket contains row after row of wrapped candies. Some stores still have candy displays or dispensers that contain unwrapped candy that can be scooped out and paid for by weight. These acrylic bins are a safe and sanitary way to store fresh candy. Unfortunately, they are becoming increasingly hard to find. Since stores make more money selling wrapped candy, they have slowly phased them out over the years. The only place customers can expect to find these dispensers is in stores that sell candy and nothing but candy!

The Regulars

Most people consider candy to be a highly seasonal treat. This makes perfect sense. A significant portion of annual sales revolve around major American holidays, such as Halloween, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas (candy canes). But most of the people who eat candy enjoy it year round. Even more surprisingly, most candy lovers are not kids. Most are over the age of 18. According to a survey completed by the Simmons Market Research Bureau, around 75 percent of American adults buy or eat candy on a regular basis. What do they eat?

For obvious reasons, extremely sweet treats that are hard to chew are more popular with the younger crowd. Adults overwhelming prefer chocolate or chocolate-covered treats. The good news is that these candies are far less expensive if they are purchased in bulk. Buying a box of chocolate covered raisins at the store is probably two or three times more expensive than buying a big bag of them from an online candy store. Not to mention the fact that they typically offer a much wider selection.

Fill a bowl and put it out

It seems a bit silly to only purchase candy on holidays or for special occasions. After all, most people like it and will gladly enjoy a handful or two of chocolate covered raisins, pretzels, peanuts, malt balls, or Hershey’s kisses. All of the aforementioned treats appeal to both children and adults and can be purchased at deep discounts in bulk quantities. Other popular sweets that can be kept in a bowl on a table or a desk include caramel cubes, tootsie rolls, and M & Ms.

Of course, the treat doesn’t have to be made of chocolate or caramel to put it in a bowl and offer it to your guests. Lots of candy lovers prefer gelatin-based sweets to chocolate ones. These include popular treats like gummy worms, sour patch kids, Swedish fish, jujubes, gummy bears, and jelly beans. Red and black licorice and candies that contain them, like Good & Plenty, also have loyal followings.

Any candy love
can save money if they shop for sweets on the internet. Because they sell it in bulk quantities, customers will save more on candy the more they buy.