College-Themed Treats for High School Grads

As high school graduation season approaches, candy makers have an opportunity to tap into a growing trend: family and friends gifting college-themed treats to celebrate graduates' next big step. Elevate your graduation offerings with festive, school-color-inspired confections that make a statement. Here’s how you can incorporate these ideas into your product lineup.

Photo credit: Marie’s Candies

Candy Cups

Create a memorable keepsake by packaging your signature sweets in a licensed travel cup or mug. RCI member, Marie’s Candies, fills university-branded mugs with assorted chocolates. Chocolate-covered espresso beans are another idea for an energizing treat for incoming freshmen.

Photo credit: Sweet Ali Custom Confections

Gummy Candy Jars

Fill glass mason jars or reusable containers with layers of gummies, jelly beans or other colored candies in school colors. These vibrant treats can be customized with color combinations to match the college spirit. Consider mix-and-match options where parents can choose a variety of candies in their child's college hues.

Photo credit: Treats by Taryn

Chocolate-Covered Cookies

Decorate chocolate-covered sandwich cookies with colored sprinkles to match school themes. These eye-catching treats can be arranged on candy boards or boxed for gifting.

Photo credit: PopCentral Popcorn

Colored Popcorn

White chocolate popcorn drizzled with school colors adds a sweet and salty crunch to graduation celebrations. Offer variety by using flavored white chocolate—such as blueberry and lemon—to naturally achieve school color themes. School-themed popcorn can double as a fun snack for dorm rooms and tailgate parties.

Photo credit: Bruce’s Candy Kitchen

Sprinkle Letters and Candy Boards

Spell out celebratory messages like “Congrats” or the graduate’s initials using chocolate letters adorned with sprinkle mixes that match college colors. These can be packaged as stand-alone gifts or used as toppers for cakes and candy boards.

Photo credit: Anthony-Thomas Candy Company

Licensing Considerations

If you plan to use official college logos or mascots, be aware of trademark regulations. RCI member Anthony-Thomas Candy Company, for example, is officially licensed by Ohio State University, allowing them to create branded confections. Depending on your market, obtaining a license with a local university could be a great way to boost sales from students, alumni and fans who want to show off their school spirit.

Many colleges offer licensing programs that allow businesses to feature official branding on their products, which can greatly enhance credibility and appeal. Unauthorized use of logos can lead to legal issues, so contact the college's licensing department to obtain the necessary permissions.

By offering college-themed treats, you can create customized treats while also increasing your sales during graduation season. With a little creativity, your business can be the go-to destination for graduation sweets this spring!

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Celebrate World Teachers’ Day + Get Free Printable Gift Tags!

 

Help parents shower teachers with some much-deserved appreciation for World Teachers’ Day on October 5!

Quickly convert any of your delicious confections to the perfect gift for World Teachers’ Day just by adding a fun gift tag. Click here to download RCI’s custom gift tags for free—printed six to a page.

Looking for creative ideas for teacher gifts? Check out this past blog post for inspiration sure to make your business the apple of the teacher’s eye!

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.

Tip #308: Create Instagram-Worthy Back-To-School Gifts

Put the “COOL” in back-to-school with Instagram-worthy gifts both for students and their teachers! Here we’ve compiled some of our favorite smart treats pulled from past blog posts that are sure to earn your candy shop an A+.

Charlie's Chocolate Factory

tip #141: apple for the teacher

If they haven’t done so already, you can bet many parents in your community will be scouring social media (especially Pinterest) for the perfect gift to celebrate their students and sweeten up teachers as a new school year approaches.

Charlie’s Chocolate Factory of Vancouver, British Columbia used a standard apple box mould and adapted it to feature a clever hole for a gummy worm to pop out. 

Chocolate-covered Oreo Apple Pops are an equally fun idea for a sweet school treat. In this example, a standard circle mould was used to create a thicker layer of colored confectionery coating, a pretzel was used to create the stem as well as modeling chocolate for the leaves. Other tutorials utilize fresh mint leaves for a more realistic look.

Dietsch Brothers

tip #275: GIFTS THAT RULE

Take notes from RCI member, Dietsch Brothers, who creates custom tags and labels throughout the year to help theme their products as a way to encourage sales. Transform a basic chocolate bar into a thoughtful teacher gift by creating a custom wrapper that looks like a ruler and reads, “thanks for making this year rule!” Or add tags to your boxed chocolates and moulded chocolates that say “To the sweetest teacher.”

IDEA: HOST A FAVORITE TEACHER CONTEST
With World Teacher’s Day on October 5, make plans now to host a favorite teacher contest in September. It’s a fun avenue to recognize the great teachers in your area and also capture new customers before e the busy holiday season!

First, create a beautiful gift basket that will go to the winning teacher and have it on display in your store. For the contest, invite your customers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, etc. to nominate their favorite teacher and include the reason they have nominated him or her. To increase excitement for the contest, you could also give a box of your chocolates or smaller gift basket to the nominator of the winning teacher.

Add excitement to the contest by spreading the word through press releases, radio spots, school newsletters, etc. Everyone will also want to know who wins so be sure to get a photo of the winner with his or her nominator and post it on social media and in your store.

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 #275: Make Teacher’s Day Sweet

Find out which free graphic design tool we used to create this week's header.
Click here to download this graphic and share it on your own social media pages.

We can all agree teachers deserve a holiday! Remind your customers to celebrate World Teacher Day’s on Friday, October 5, 2018 by thanking the educators in their life with sweet treats that are sure to earn your candy shop an A+.

Dietsch Brothers shares their favorite teacher gifts on their Facebook page.

Take notes from RCI member, Dietsch Brothers, who creates custom tags and labels throughout the year to help theme their products as a way to encourage sales. Transform a basic chocolate bar into a thoughtful teacher gift by creating a custom wrapper that looks like a ruler and reads, “thanks for making this year rule!” Or add tags to your boxed chocolates and moulded chocolates that say “To the sweetest teacher.”

Don’t have an in-house graphic designer? Free graphic design websites like Canva or Crello make it easy for everyone to use, by offering free templates made by professionals that you can customize as needed. In fact, the header graphic above was created using Canva. These tools can also be utilized to create a coordinated look for in-store signage and even social media graphics to tell your followers about your sweet treats for teachers.

These custom graphics will not only take your merchandising to the next level, they can be easily updated and reused as the school year comes to an end and, then again, for back-to-school next year!

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. Review past blog posts for quick and actionable tips to apply to your business. 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.

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

Rewind to Tip #141: Celebrate World Teacher's Day

World Teacher’s Day is Sunday, October 5 and you can bet many parents in your community will be scouring social media (especially Pinterest) for the perfect gift to thank the special teachers in their life…or sweeten them up a bit before they have to spend the week with a classroom of children that just seem like they’re on a sugar high! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get your business on the radar with goodies worthy of an A+.

Apple Box by Charlie's Chocolate Factory of Vancouver

Charlie’s Chocolate Factory shared their Apple Box (pictured above) during Candy Clinic at the 2015 Annual Convention, with a cleverly added hole for a gummy worm to pop out. RCI members can view videos from Candy Clinic on our website at www.retailconfectioners.org/candyclinic.

Photo: Amanda's Parties To Go 

Click here for an easy-to-follow tutorial (with lots of photos) on how to create these cute Oreo Apple Pops.

In addition to offering great gift ideas, help your customers celebrate teachers by holding a favorite teacher contest. It’s a fun avenue to recognize the great teachers in your area and also create some awareness for your company.

First, create a beautiful gift basket that will go to the winning teacher and have it on display in your store. For the contest, invite your customers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, etc. to nominate their favorite teacher and include the reason they have nominated him or her. To increase excitement for the contest, you could also give a box of your chocolates or “mini” gift basket to the nominator of the winning teacher.

Add excitement to the contest by spreading the word through press releases, radio spots, school newsletters, etc. Everyone will also want to know who wins so be sure to get a photo of the winner with his or her nominator and post it on social media and in your store.