5 Secret Weapons for Selling Chocolate at Outdoor Events

Looking to reach hundreds or thousands of potential new customers?

Selling your confections at outdoor events could be the answer. Even on the busiest days, it would be difficult for most candy shops to compete with the opportunity to reach hundreds or thousands of people in attendance at even a single outdoor market or festival. These events provide an opportunity to introduce your products and brand to a new audience, potentially converting them into loyal patrons. Moreover, participation in events can foster valuable relationships with fellow vendors, opening doors to collaborations, supply partnerships and wholesale opportunities.

While selling at farmers markets and festivals certainly have their benefits, they can be overlooked for the myriad of challenges that seemingly outweigh the potential rewards. Keep reading to arm yourself with 5 secret weapons for selling chocolate at outdoor events.

Secret Weapon #1: A Cooler

Even in 90-degree weather, it’s possible to sell chocolate at outdoor events with a cooler and frozen gel packs. Additionally, the use of thermal bubble wrap will help extend the life of the ice packs and provide a barrier between chocolate and ice packs to prevent sugar bloom. Additionally, on hot days consider offering to store chocolate purchases in a cooler until customers are ready to leave the event.

Secret Weapon #2: Chocolate Menu

Display a menu of chocolate confections for sale so shoppers know what’s available even if it’s not on display. Consider offering a limited number of products on rotation at events. This not only simplifies the purchasing process for customers, but it can also drive foot traffic to your retail shop.

Secret Weapon #3: Heat-Resistant Treats

With chocolate items safely stored in a cooler, you will need items for display. Consider treats that will withstand warmer weather such as brittle, crispy rice bars, hard candy, pâte de fruits and marshmallows.

Secret Weapon #4: Table Risers

Elevate your table to counter height by adding four 12-inch pieces of PVC pipe to the table legs. Table legs must be angled for this to work, but even if you need to purchase a new table it may be worth the investment. Adding risers will bring your table to a more comfortable height, saving your back from bending over. Elevating your table also brings everything closer to shoppers’ eyes and makes it more difficult for unruly dogs to jump on the table.

Secret Weapon #5: Facebook Live

Leveraging live streaming platforms such as Facebook Live allows for real-time interaction with followers, effectively driving attendance to events.

We hope these tools help you navigate the challenges that come with selling your products at outdoor events with confidence. By embracing opportunities to sell your products at outdoor events, your business can maximize its presence and profitability in this lucrative market segment.

Want more insight like this? Attend RCI’s 2024 Annual Convention & Industry Expo to meet industry suppliers and candy makers! Register now and join us in Buffalo, New York June 17-21, 2024!

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5 Brittle Blunders Resolved

Brittle is a great summer treat, because it can stand up to warm summer temps all while satisfying the need for sweet, salty and whole lot of crunch!

This week we’re sharing 5 quick tips from RCI members who are known for their brittles, among their other delightful treats, Joy Lyn’s Candies of Paradise, California. Keep reading as we troubleshoot common problems faced when making brittle and how to resolve them.

1. Crystallization can be caused by an incomplete wash-down of the kettle, mixing blade and other utensils used while making brittle. This means not all sugars have dissolved which will create a grainy texture.
2. Sticky brittle could be the result of undercooking the batch, creating higher than desired moisture content.
3. Alternatively, cooking brittle at too high of a temperature can lead to a scorched or bitter flavor.
4. Butter your table top before pouring the batch to prevent it from sticking to the table.
5. Brittle that is too hard and thick can happen if you use a fan to cool your mixture, allowing it to set too quickly. Avoid the use of a fan to cool mixture and work quickly to thin and spread brittle.
   

Joy Lyn's Glenn Hartley works quickly to create crisp, buttery peanut brittle.

Game Changing Tools for Working with Brittle 
Sometimes even perfect formulations can only get you so far, here’s a couple of Joy Lyn’s favorite tools for crafting drool-worthy brittles with consistency.

As seen in the series of photos above, Glenn Hartley uses Tucker BurnGuard safety gloves and a heavy-duty scraper fashioned from the lid of a food-grade bucket.

Finding the right heat-resistant gloves will not only protect your skin from burns, they allow you to spread hot brittle thinly and quickly. Joy Lyn’s wears high-temperature Tucker BurnGuard^® safety gloves over white cotton gloves to lessen the heat.

Sometimes a standard scraper is just not enough for confections, like brittle, that require a high-level of heat. Joy Lyn’s repurposes the lid of a food-grade corn syrup bucket to fashion their own heavy-duty scrapers, perfect for scraping the kettle and spread the hot brittle mixture after it’s poured. With the use of a bandsaw, they cut the bucket’s lid in half to achieve the desired shape. The result is a scraper that is thicker, larger and can better withstand high heat.

Hopefully these tips will not only help you to identify and correct problem areas with brittle, but also achieve thinner, flavorful brittle with just the right amount of crunch!

Crave more? Click here to subscribe and start receiving weekly tips, like this, delivered straight to your email inbox. RCI's 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. Follow us on Facebook for even more sweet inspiration.

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

Throwback Tip #257: 5 Sweets that Beat the Heat

The first day of summer is a month away! If this means more outdoor festivals, farmers markets, picnics and parties on the horizon, don’t let warm weather keep your business from shining at outdoor events. Read on for ideas on more sturdy treats that aren’t as likely to melt in consumers' hands.

Photo by Romulo Yanes

Marshmallows

RCI member Hilliard’s Chocolates’ toasted coconut marshmallow is their “tried and true” summer confection. Try it yourself with this recipe from Epicurious.

Kakao Chocolate presented Truffle Shots during RCI's Candy Clinic in 2016.

Truffle Shots

RCI member, Kakao Chocolate shared a creative idea at a past Candy Clinic for a mess-free summery chocolate treat. By piping ganche into compostable cups, Kakao Chocolate’s truffle shots allow them to deliver the same great chocolatey taste their known for at farmers’ markets and other outdoor events without the threat of chocolate melting in customers’ hands.

MarthaStewart.com

Brittles & Toffees

As long as they’re not coated in chocolate, you can count on these hard candies to stand tough. This recipe for sweet and smoky brittle from MarthaStewart.com would make the perfect addition to a summer BBQ or pool-party themed display or sold at a farmers’ market.

Tastemade.com

Fudge

Not only do many fudge recipes hold up to reasonable heat, no-cook fudge recipes can help you keep the temperature down in your candy kitchen. Check out this tutorial for watermelon fudge that screams summer! Consider inserting popsicle sticks into watermelon wedges to serve as fudge pops.

Chocolate Storybook

Cotton Candy

A staple at any outdoor carnival or boardwalk, these sugary clouds melt in your mouth, but not in your hand. When stored properly, cotton candy can withstand relatively high temperatures and deliver pops of color to your booth or retail shop. If you don’t want to make it yourself, Chocolate Storybook wholesales 31 unique flavors of hand-spun, specialty cotton candy from classic pink vanilla to spicy jalapeno.

Outshine the sun this spring and summer with these 5 delicious treats that can tolerate the heat, without turning into a melty, soupy mess. 

Register now for RCI's Annual Convention & Industry Expo

Get more inspired ideas like these from fellow confectionery professionals and join us at RCI's Annual Convention & Industry Expo June 3-7, 2019 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT. Register now to attend RCI's two-day Industry Expo for only $5 with the promo code "RCIHigh5." For more information and to register online, visit retailconfectioners.org/annual.

Note: The above recommendations are intended for use in reasonable conditions and not guaranteed to withstand extreme heat, such that might occur in shipping during spring and summer months.

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.

Tip #257: 5 Sweets that Beat the Heat

Photo by Romolo Yanes

Regardless of any groundhogs’ predictions, the arrival of spring is a month away! This means more outdoor festivals, farmers markets, picnics and parties on the horizon. Don’t let warm weather keep your business from shining at outdoor events by featuring more sturdy treats that aren’t as likely to melt in consumers' hands.

Epicurious

Marshmallows

RCI member Hilliard’s Chocolates’ toasted coconut marshmallow is their “tried and true” summer confection. Try it yourself with this recipe from Epicurious.

Kakao Chocolate presents Truffle Shots during RCI's Candy Clinic in 2016.

Truffle Shots

RCI member, Kakao Chocolate shared a creative idea at a past Candy Clinic for a mess-free summery chocolate treat. By piping ganche into compostable cups, Kakao Chocolate’s truffle shots allow them to deliver the same great chocolatey taste their known for at farmers’ markets and other outdoor events without the threat of chocolate melting in customers’ hands.

MarthaStewart.com

Brittles & Toffees

As long as they’re not coated in chocolate, you can count on these hard candies to stand tough. This recipe for sweet and smoky brittle from MarthaStewart.com would make the perfect addition to a summer BBQ or pool-party themed display or sold at a farmers’ market.

Tastemade.com

Fudge

Not only do many fudge recipes hold up to reasonable heat, no-cook fudge recipes can help you keep the temperature down in your candy kitchen. Check out this tutorial for watermelon fudge that screams summer! Consider inserting popsicle sticks into watermelon wedges to serve as fudge pops.

Chocolate Storybook

Cotton Candy

A staple at any outdoor carnival or boardwalk, these sugary clouds melt in your mouth, but not in your hand. When stored properly, cotton candy can withstand relatively high temperatures and deliver pops of color to your booth or retail shop. If you don’t want to make it yourself, Chocolate Storybook wholesales 31 unique flavors of hand-spun, specialty cotton candy from classic pink vanilla to spicy jalapeno.

Outshine the sun this spring and summer with these 5 delicious treats that can tolerate the heat, without turning into a melty, soupy mess.

Note: The above recommendations are intended for use in reasonable conditions and not guaranteed to withstand extreme heat, such that might occur in shipping during spring and summer months.

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.