Easter is one of the biggest holidays for many candy shops.
Hosting an “Easter Bunny Peeps® Pop Event” is a great way to create
buzz about your store while increasing sales and foot traffic leading up to
Easter. In this week’s post, we’re sharing the idea from RCI member, Dolle’s
Candyland in Ocean City, Maryland, which includes valuable tips on how to make
your event successful.
Making “Easter Bunny Peeps Pops” are very easy, which makes this
a great hands-on activity for kids that requires minimal work for candy makers.
Here’s what each participant will need:
Ingredients (per child)
- 1 Peeps Marshmallow Bunny
- 1 Sucker stick
- 1 Mini marshmallow (for the bunny tail)
- Melted tempered chocolate (for dipping)
- 1 Paper plate
- Markers (for writing kid’s name on their plate)
- Sanitizing hand wipes
5-Step Peeps Pop Procedure
Dolle's
shared their "recipe" for creating a successful Easter Peeps Pop
event with these five easy-to-follow steps:
#1: Distribute hand wipes and have children roll up their sleeves.
Dolle's
team was prepared with a large container of hand wipes, purchased from Amazon,
to make hand-washing a breeze while kiddos waited in line.
#2: Write child’s name on the bottom of a paper plate.
This step
allows for you to hold the peep “hostage” while it cools (you’ll learn why
on step #4).
#3: Let each child dip Peeps Pop in chocolate, place it on a plate
and add a mini marshmallow “tail.”
This is
where it’s important to keep steps to a minimum—little to no decorations are
necessary. Having hosted similar events, Dolle's has learned the value of
keeping it simple. “If you leave sprinkles out, the kids will want to use all
the sprinkles,” noted Anna Dolle Bushnell. In other words, you don’t need
sprinkles at all. Kids will be more than satisfied with simply dipping their
marshmallow in chocolate and adding the tail. Another important tip to note, have
a step-stool handy for the smaller children.
#4: Hold the Peeps Hostage
This step
was emphasized by Anna for good reason, “Instead of walking around the store
with a wet, chocolate Peeps Pop, we put it through the cooling tunnel of our
enrober until the chocolate set.” Adding that placing the pops in front of a
fan or in the refrigerator would be suitable alternatives if you don’t have a
cooling tunnel.
The key
to this step, and the overall success of this event, is while the chocolate
cooled, participating families had about ten minutes to shop in their retail
store.
#5: After Peeps Pop is set, announce child's name in shop.
When
ready, a member of the Dolle's team read the name on the bottom of each plate
before presenting the child with their finished Peeps Pop. “Most of the kids
would gobble it right up, but some did take them home,” Anna noted. “Some of
them were beautiful, while some of them ended up with a pool of chocolate.”
Leading up to the event, Dolle’s Candyland created a public
event on Facebook to help spread the word. They were surprised to find people
lined up out the door to make chocolate-covered Peeps. “I didn’t know I would
need stanchions [to direct the crowd],” Anna explained, “I think we [as candy
makers] take for granted what we do—people really love candy. It’s such a great
thing to give them an experience like this, that really is very minimal.”
The Conclusion
Due to
the buzz created by this free, one-day event, Dolle’s Candyland increased their
sales by 150% more than the day before. “People were just so thankful that we
did it and some adults did it too,” added Anna. If space limitations prevent
your store from hosting an event, consider boxing up the ingredients and
supplies for customers to make Peeps Pops at home. Wishing you a “hoppy” Easter!
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