Create One-of-A-Kind Confections with Color

For a fun pop of color and whimsy to liven up your favorite coated confections, try a technique adopted from marbleizing paper. Use either tempered white chocolate or compound coating as your base and add a few drops of oil-soluble color to the top of the white base. The use of 2-3 different colors is recommended to achieve the marbled affect. Gently swirl the colors into the base, but do not overmix as you want to see the various colors. Dip precut pieces of parchment, cookies, truffles, pretzels, etc. into the coating and cool. If you use parchment, once it cools, gently peel away the paper and you are left with a colorful piece of edible art.

Photo credit: Blommer Chocolate Company

This fun and colorful technique can be used to enhance your dipped confections or barks for any holiday or occasion using different color combinations. We recommend recording a video or taking a series of photos to share the process with your social media followers.

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Trend Alert: 5 Must Try Tie-Dye Ideas

Whether you like it or not, tie-dye is one of the biggest fashion trends of 2020—no doubt thanks to quarantined DIYers looking to pass time and upcycle their wardrobes.

Oftentimes popular fashion trends find their way into other industries. With all the fun, bright colors and happy vibes it creates, we think the tie-dye trend is a perfect fit for the candy industry. If you’re looking to jump on this psychedelic bandwagon, keep reading for five must-try tie-dye ideas. 

Tie-Dye S’mores

Tie-dye + s’mores! Does it get any better than this? Whip up a batch of these colorful and gooey marshmallows and dare your customers NOT to plaster photos of them all over social media! They won’t be able to resist! Click here for a tutorial from Studio DIY.

Tie-Dye Chocolate Bars

Create yummy swirls of color on a chocolate bar, then take it a step further by embellishing it with a fun, little moulded chocolate piece—like this ice cream cone—and lots of sprinkles.

Tie-Dye Moulded Chocolates

You don’t even have to like tie-dye to love this colorful bunny! What other moulded chocolates would look great in tie dye? All of them!

Tie-Dye Packaging

What goes best with tie-dye? More tie-dye, of course! Complete your collection of tie-dye confections with equally psychedelic packaging. Contact MOD-PAC for more information about these tie-dye boxes.

Tie-Dye Merchandise

For the truest tie-dye enthusiasts, consider adding branded tie-die merch to your offerings, like these t-shirts from Asher's Chocolates.   

In the world of tie-dye, the possibilities are seemingly endless! These are just a few of our favorite ways for your business to ride the tie-dye trend. Similar techniques could also be applied to chocolate-covered sandwich cookies, pretzels, fudge and more. What confections would you transform with tie dye? Share in the comments below.

Crave more? If you like what you read here, look for the "Subscribe now" box on the right to enter your email address and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's Tip of the Week blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Festive Treats for Fourth of July

Here's some fun ideas for the Fourth of July! Transform your favorite sweets into your festive treats by adding a whole lot of red, white and ooooh!

Patriotic Pretzels

This sweet and salty treat will be hard to pass up with the addition of colored confectioners coating and sprinkles to resemble the American flag.

Pop Rocks^® Popcorn

Offer a package of Pop Rocks^® as an add-on to your festive white chocolate coated popcorn (or really add popcorn treat) for a little unexpected fun this Fourth of July. Click here to read our past blog post with more inspiration, plus a helpful tip for working with Pop Rocks^® in confections.

Freedom Bark

Swirls of red, white and blue are a beautiful sight and make for a sweetly patriotic treat. Consider adding dried blueberries, cherries, cranberries or coconut for added flavor and texture while staying true to the color scheme.

Fourth of July Tie-Dye Fudge

Transform classic white chocolate fudge into a summer holiday hero! Consider a mash-up of blueberry and strawberry flavors to give it a fresh mixed berry vibe!

This Fourth of July will certainly be one to remember! We hope this offers some inspiration for your holiday celebration.

Crave more? If you like what you read here, look for the "Subscribe now" box on the right to enter your email address and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's Tip of the Week blog is just one of the many resources we offer to help candy makers refine their craft and build upon their business and marketing practices.

Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Use this Trendy Color to Stand Out

Looking for inspiration to launch a new product or add a fresh a new look in your retail shop? Look no further than Pantone’s Color of the Year, Ultra Violet. 

Said to evoke originality, ingenuity and visionary thinking, shades of Ultra Violet are increasingly used in packaging and graphic design by forward-looking brands seeking to stand out, according to The Pantone Color Institute.

Pantone.com

 Incorporate Shades of Violet into Products and Merchandising

Since it was first introduced in December, ultra violet has been the inspiration for apparel, cosmetic and home decor brands as well as well-known personalities and artists. Let ultra violet light the way for your product development efforts and even when ordering gift items and other merchandise for your retail shop.

Photos: Disco Strawberries, Spring Flower Lollipops by Sprinkle Bakes
and Blackberry Marshmallows by The Road to Honey

Create cosmic strawberries with metallic violet luster dust or take a more literal approach by incorporating edible violets into your candies, like Sprinkle Bakes (click here for easy lollipop tutorial). For a fresh spin on homemade marshmallows, add blackberry puree to get a natural violet hue (check out recipe).

Party City

Make an Impact with an Ultra Violet Candy Buffet

For maximum impact in your store, group together your favorite ultra violet (and other shades of purple) treats in a candy buffet. Consider adding violet lollipops, foil-wrapped chocolates, Jordan almonds, taffy and jelly beans to create more of a variety.

Gain inspiration from brands like Sephora and Gap for their use of
the color of the year in past product promotions. Images: xrite and Selectism

Create a Color of the Year Promotion

Pantone is recognized globally as the leading source of color information and trend forecasts. If you’re not already familiar with Pantone, there’s a good chance consumers in your community are, especially if your retail shop is near a university. According to an article published on NYTimes.com, “Pantone [has] tremendous influence over the visible elements of the global economy — the parts of it that are designed, manufactured and purchased.”

December is pretty much the Super Bowl for Pantone, after the Color of the Year is officially announced. You can expect consumer products in industries spanning from fashion to home décor, packaging and beauty products to jump on the bandwagon, why not the candy industry? If this seems like a good fit for your business, now may be a good time to identify these consumers.

Pantone’s color of the year could just be the spark of inspiration you need for a new product launch or fresh merchandising plan. Have you ever used Pantone’s color of the year as inspiration in your business? If so, please share in the comments below.

Stay connected with RCI through Facebook for more tips and inspiration dedicated to the retail candy maker. Not a member? Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business.

Tip # 234: How to Apply Water Marbling Effect to Moulded Chocolates

For members looking to gain creative ideas at RCI’s 2017 Annual Convention & Industry Expo, Candy Clinic did not disappoint. Since the thirties, this member-exclusive event has allowed RCI members from across the United States, Canada and abroad to share their best ideas and gain inspiration from fellow candy makers. Keep reading for an idea that won the award for best innovation at the latest Candy Clinic.

Inspired by an associate’s manicured finger nails, RCI member Cher Diamond of Maurie’s Fine Chocolates of Madison, shared a creative technique for applying cocoa butter to moulded chocolates. Water marbling is a technique used to create a unique nail polish design by adding droplets of nail polish to water before applying it to the nail. A similar effect can be achieved with cocoa butter and water.

Start by filling a bowl with room temperature water. If you read tutorials online for water marbling, they recommend using filtered or bottled water. Get cocoa butter spray, shake it up and spray it into the water. Because the oils in cocoa butter resist the water, the cocoa butter will float on top of the water, allowing you to create a unique design with a variety of different colored cocoa butters. Drag a toothpick or other similar object through the cocoa butter, cleaning it after each use.

Once the desired marbleized effect is achieved, take a finished moulded piece or just the shell and run it through the cocoa butter. Let each moulded piece dry for three hours or overnight. You may finish the piece by applying a glaze spray, but according to Cher, the cocoa butter will not rub off or detemper the chocolate.

If you’re looking to create stunning chocolate pieces, give this simple and fun water marbling technique a try and let us know how it turns out by leaving a comment below.

Want to learn more innovative ideas like this one? Idea sharing is just one of the many benefits of membership with Retail Confectioners International (RCI)! Click here to learn how RCI can help you build your sweet business. 

Tip #110: Rice Krispy Treat Conversation Hearts

Conversation hearts have been around for more than 100 years and are still an extremely popular candy around Valentine’s Day. This week’s tip is to make a larger version of this seasonal favorite using Rice Krispy treats.

You can easily do this by taking a sheet of Rice Krispy treats and using a heart-shaped cookie cutter and then dipping the hearts in colored confectionery coating. After the coating has set for a bit, write custom sayings on the hearts using another different color of coating.

Another quick idea – allow shoppers to customize their treat with a personalized saying! Now you have a quick and easy Valentine’s product and your customers will love the chance to get their valentine a custom treat.

Tip #109: Use Nonpareils to Decorate Chocolates

Here’s a quick and easy tip for you! Looking for an easy way to add color to your chocolates and decorate your moulds? Nonpareils are a great option and a little bit goes a long way!

For example, decorate Easter eggs and bunnies using nonpareils to add Spring colors. Or, since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, use a mixture of pink and red nonpareils to decorate chocolate lips and hearts. And later in the year, place a bit of melted chocolate on the eyes of a moulded jack-o-lantern after it is set and and then sprinkle with orange and yellow nonpareils for a spooky Halloween glow.

You can get creative and have fun with this tip at each holiday!

Last week RCI was on a Winter Getaway in Barbados, building connections with fellow candy makers and suppliers. Check out photos on the RCI Facebook page!

Tip #91: Hire a Gift Designer

At each of our events, we take attendees on behind-the-scenes visit of area candy stores and suppliers. It’s one of the most anticipated parts of the event week as it’s a great time for attendees to find ideas to take back to their own stores.

During our Canadian Chocolate Tour in September 2012 and recent Annual Convention & Industry Expo in June we visited confectionery retail stores that had designated gift designers. Attendees were consistently “wowed” by the beautiful displays and merchandising in these stores so this week’s tip is for you to hire a gift designer for your own retail candy store.

Gift designers are focused solely on the presentation of the products and displays in your store. Their job is to take your delicious candy products and turn them into beautiful gifts that your customers can’t resist buying. It’s about more than just wrapping paper – it is creating a theme, designing a shopping experience for your customers.  

If hiring someone solely for the purpose of designing gifts isn’t something you can do, then consider making it a seasonal position or incorporating it into an existing position. You’ll be surprised at the difference having an individual focused on designing your items will make when it comes to the presentation of your products.

One other tip: once you hire someone, be sure to give him or her freedom to be creative and come up with new and original ideas. Share your vision and brand strategy and then step out of the way and be amazed at what is created and the exquisiteness it adds to your displays.

Tip #56: Join the Super Bowl Madness

Super Bowl is a week from this Sunday and according to this infographic on 2012 Super Bowl parties, more than $50 million will be spent on food for Super Bowl parties across the country. That’s why this week’s tip is to join the madness and incorporate a few Super Bowl themed items in your candy store.

While you can’t legally use the logos and likeness of the competing Super Bowl football teams, you can use their team colors to create beautifully themed hostess gifts and party platters. How about football shaped cookies using icing with team colors? Or, try football shaped chocolate moulds with a stick in them to make football pop bouquets. Since eight million pounds of popcorn were consumed at Super Bowl parties last year, consider making salty snacks such as popcorn and pretzels mixes. The product possibilities are endless!

Be sure to spread the word among your customers using your website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and whatever social media networks your customers are accustomed to, and encourage them to come to your store for their Super Bowl party treats. Remember, great pictures speak a thousand words so be sure to post beautiful pictures.

Do you have other ideas for joining Super Bowl madness and your candy store? Please share them in the comments below!

Tip #55: Incorporate Color Trends with Ribbons and Embellishments

Have you already set your packaging colors for Valentine’s Day and other spring holidays but want to incorporate the newest color trends and combos? Invest in a few spools of great ribbon or stylish embellishments and you’ll be on trend in no time!

We’ve gathered a few creative uses of emerald green, Pantone’s 2013 Color of the Year, from Pinterest to inspire your 2013 packaging and design creativity. Let the creative juices flow!

Bright Ribbon:

Source: factorydirectcraft.com via Fawn on Pinterest

Classy Embellishments (great for wrapping a classic 4-piece box!):

Source: etsy.com via Nadine on Pinterest

Bright Accents:

Source: houzz.com via Rochelle on Pinterest

Fresh Color Combo:

Source: blog.2modern.com via 2Modern on Pinterest

Fun Pattern:

Source: elledecor.com via Pottery Barn on Pinterest