Information Resources Inc. notes that candy sales were up 5.1% for December 2009 over December 2008.

The upward surge in candy sales is expected to continue for the 2010 holiday season.

In fact, recent news reports have detailed the need for comfort foods in these sluggish economic times.

Comfort food for most Americans means candy. According to National Retail Federation, in 2009 consumers spent an average of  $90 on candy and food items as gifts or Christmas holiday treats.

Follow a few simple tips for the upcoming Holiday season and your candy sales will be deliciously sweet.

Eyes Are The First Step In Taste

During the holiday season your emphasis should be on eye-catching gourmet candy displays. For instance, retro candies are big for 2010.

Use signage that reminds customers of way back when. Develop colorful or attention-grabbing displays that will highlight your gourmet chocolates or luscious confectionary candies.

Peak Their Interest With Samples

Another way to sell your candy is to give out samples.  If you've ever shopped at Costco, you know that samples do equate into a sales or else they wouldn't do it.  This minimal investment promotion highlights your products and creates goodwill with your customers.

Pick three or four of your higher end candy items to sample out, such as almond toffee, cherry cordials, sugar free candies, whatever you feel your costumers will find delicious.

It cannot be stressed enough that the person handing out your candies must be knowledgeable about the product. Your staffers need to know the name of the product, what's in the products, as well as the prices of the candies.

Candy Compliments Every Product

Cross promotion works very well during holiday seasons. Your store might offer a deal, such as: buy a select group of candies and get a free scented candle.

People love free things and will often make a purchase because they get an item free. They see this as an extra perceived value. (Tip: use slow moving or obsolete items as your free gift.)

Using items that are slow movers gives your customer a perceived value, while clearing your floor space so you can bring in new products. Plus, you're leading the customers to your other lines of products.

If you use Facebook, Myspace or Twitter as part of your marketing, you need to be sure to let your social media friends know that your store now carries the most delectable fudge or that you'll be offering free candy canes from noon until 2pm on Black Friday.

Tweet about your new line of  saltwater taffy. Using social media sites is a free way to promote your shop and alert customers about your hot new products.

Wrapping Up Your Candy Strategy

Key points for Selling The Sweet Stuff this holiday season are:

• Signs that direct consumers to the products
• Giving samples and having knowledge of products
• Cross Promotion = Extra Perceived Value
• Use Of Social Media

If you're in need of some new candy and confection vendors or you're …click here to read Selling The Sweet Stuff For The Holidays…

Forget the meager candy display at the register, the secret to sales is a complete candy product mix. Customers will swarm your store in search for the candy aisle(s) when they hear that you sell Pennsylvania Dutch Candies.

The nostalgic candy is offered in a vast array of tasty varieties. Even tastier, are the Dutch Treats and yummy snacks with an old-time essence.

The specially formulated candies and snacks from Pennsylvania Dutch Candies are guaranteed to make your customers' (and yours!) taste buds water for the delicious flavors. The categories that they make (but are not limited to) are listed below.

• Dutch Treats- Dive into tins full of crunchy peanut squares, honey toasted cashews, trail blazing mix, or more. The sweet and salty flavors will become family favorites during movie nights or get-together's.
• Sanded Candy- This is a piece of hard candy that is coated with a thin layer of sugar. Choose from butterscotch, root beer, sour apple, spearmint, or more.
• Chocolate Lovers- The rich, creamy chocolate of Pennsylvania Dutch Candies is dipped and drizzled onto almonds, pretzels, peanut brittle, and other nut varieties.
• Licorice- This old-time inspired candy has proven it's popularity over the years. Buy the licorice candy as pipes, laces, or pounds in the traditional black or red licorice flavors.
• Nostalgic Items- Circus Peanuts? Flying Saucer Wafers? Gummi Worms? These classic, retro candies will be a big hit!
• PA Dutch Specialties- The signature, specialty items include Country Style Apple Butter, Peanut Brittle, and Salt Water Taffy.
• Snacks- Sometimes candy is just not enough! If your customers are hungry for something else, give them Animal Crackers, Sourdough Pretzels, Caramel Cob, and other types of popcorn. These snacks are essentials for friendly get-together's, baby showers, bridal showers, and more!

Novelty Scorpion Suckers
• Novelties- Kids will love the Hissee Fit Gummi Snake and the Scorpion Suckers.

With a tasty variety like this, you will not need to go any where else to buy candy! Pennsylvania Dutch Candies caters to the wholesale candy needs of stores. Visit their …click here to read Old Time Inspirations and Mouthwatering Flavors from Pennsylvania…

Candy displays at a register are a great way to increase sales, but forget the standard, overused chocolate bars. Electrify the taste buds of your customers with wholesale sour candy from Toxic Waste Hazardously Sour Candy Comapny! If the name alone doesn't catch the eye of every passerby, the colorful packaging and sensational flavors of this nostalgic candy are guaranteed to stimulate the senses of customers. This tasty candy will satisfy their "sour" sweet tooth and keep them coming back for more.

One extraordinary taste of a Nuclear Sludge Bar or Hi-Voltage Bubble Gum will subdue unruly sweet cravings of children and adults alike. The shocking flavors of these candies come in: Amp'd Apple, Surgin' Strawberry, and blackout blue razz. A few other traditional flavors include blue raspberry, black cherry, green apple, lemon, and watermelon. An overflowing drum of Toxic Waste (filled with sour candy) or a chunk of 2-foot long bubble gum will entice those with a sense of curiosity and adventure. The "hazardous sour candy" warning on every label prepares each customer for a blast of flavor like no other.

Toxic Waste wholesale candy is the perfect add-on item to any sale. A colorful display near the register challenges the brave to experience the shocking effects of this sour candy.

Toxic Waste goes the extra mile to ensure their customers witness the full "toxic" experience. The interactive website allows participants to engage in toxic games, read news from the lab, visit the club house (where they will find numerous downloads), and to read about ways to help save the environment.

Would you like to know how customers might react to your new sour candy? The Toxic Waste website features an On The Tube page with videos posted of kids taking the Toxic Waste test challenge. Watch participants trying the shockingly flavorful candy and judge for yourself. The squinty eyes and puckered faces of each daredevil prove that, not only do actions speack louder than words… they make hilarious videos! So, when …click here to read Warn Your Taste Buds: Toxic Candy is Shockingly Sweet!…

Keiko has set the bar high for anyone who creates gourmet foods using green tea. Their delicious wholesale green tea candy and green tea chocolates are far and away the most unique, delicious green tea treats available.

Green tea has been around for many years. It has been touted for its health benefits and characteristic flavor. What has nearly escaped the eye of retailers everywhere is wholesale green tea candy. Delicious with many of the same benefits, wholesale green tea candy from Keiko is a rare treat for the gourmet foods connoisseur.

There is no getting around the appeal of green tea candy. Even those who do not care for green tea are curious to taste it because of the accompanying sweet flavors of chocolate or candy. Green tea candies pique interest which is why they are the perfect fit for your gourmet foods section.

Another benefit of wholesale green tea candy and green tea chocolate from Keiko is that all of Keiko's products are organically cultivated and USDA certified. To put that into perspective, green tea candy from Keiko gives your store the ability to reach three different key niches:  eco-friendly buyers, gourmet foods connoisseurs, and general snackers.

Gourmet candies are always a hit with consumers. They are delicious breaks from the cycle of healthy eating. They provide a fast fix to a sweet tooth craving or a hunger pang. When you want to curb these urges with a variety of consumer groups that frequent your store, your best bet are wholesale green tea candies from Keiko.

The Abundant Consumption Of Candy

Eight billion pounds of candy is consumed each year.  What does this significant number demonstrate?  It shows how much Americans love to indulge in chocolate, lollipops, hard candy, mints and gum.

Americans of all backgrounds and ages will and do enjoy some type of candy throughout the year. If you are not already selling candy, ask yourself  "why am I passing up such a large customer base?"

Why Sell Candy?

Gift baskets are a very popular item for florists.  The largest product requested in these gift baskets is some type of sweet treat. In fact, most people enjoy giving candy as much as receiving  it.

Offering chocolates, hard candies and even specialized treats  such as sugar free and low-carb candies is an easy way to capitalize on a hungry market. You can even offer candy arrangements for those who want to send a gift a bit different from flowers.

Many items purchased by consumers are gifts.  Offering specialty gourmet candy gives your store a unique selling proposition and a way to hone in on a niche.

With candy, you can leverage the gift giving niche as well as the entertaining niche. Candy items such as anniversary chocolate coins (or embossed chocolate) make for great party favors.  Gourmet chocolate and candy give frugal customers a gift with great perceived value.

Who Needs Candy?

Who needs candy? Everyone! They just don't know it! As a retailer, knowing your customers and their tastes is the key to your product mix. Teaching customers they need candy is the key to successful sales.

How do you teach a customer they need your product?  By solving their problem or fulfilling a need. Candy is no different. Here is an example: You have a customer who is the hostess of a baby shower.  She asks your advice on what she can do for decorative place card holders.  You demonstrate how she can write names on the ribbon tied around your baby booty lollipops.  You have just solved her problem and sold lollipops to boot.

Providing customers with products, service and advice is what  keeps customers coming back.  Whether you are a flower shop or a gift retailer, you have to be choc-full of ideas. Your customers will look to you for advice and candy can be your go-to answer.

How To Select Candy

Selecting candy is like building a house. Start with a foundation based on popular trends and traditional standards. Chocolate is the standard foundation.  It is tried and true.  But every foundation needs to incorporate rising trends. Novelty candy is a good trend indicator.  This year lollipops with unique flavors or shapes is a large portion of the novelty market.

Every house needs personalization.  So add personalization by offering a selection of custom candy. There are many options when it comes to custom or semi-custom candies.  Custom candy could be a lollipop that can be imprinted with one's name, slogan or a specific date.  A semi-custom candy would be a candy bar wrapped in specific colored tin foil or mints in special tins.

Unique and special candies make your candy house a home. Trendy candy ideas that appeal to specialty groups or interests will give your store the unique and special candies it needs.  Healthy candy sounds like an oxymoron but it is actually a rising trend. Sugar free and low carb will be a trend for the next couple years, as well as organically made chocolates with higher percentages of cocoa content (greater amount of antioxidants). Look for flavor infused candy in both chocolates as well as hard candy.  Candy infused with fruits, herbs and other spices will be a hot trend.  Incorporating these special types of candies will create a unique product mix that sets you above your competitors.

By utilizing the great wholesale chocolate and candy vendors on FGmarket you will be able to find the right products to help sweeten your sales. To jump start your candy search check out the FGmarket wholesale candy vendors highlighted below.

It's easy to trust in gourmet candies and confections when their monikers read "comfort candy with a gourmet flair™" and "the bark with a bite™". More than just clever catchphrases, Sensational Sweets lives up to their reputation as a leading provider of delicious gourmet candies. And yet, it only gets better from there.

For starters, you'll find a gourmet attitude at Sensational Sweets. Only the best products and flavors are used; only the best ideas are brought to life.

For yearning tongues with a sweet craving, Sensational Sweets provides a winning combination of gourmet quality products and delicious, unique flavors. Only the best will do and that's all that Sensational Sweets knows how to deliver.

The unique types of candy found at Sensational Sweets are delectable, delicious and start cravings flaring like a runner needs water. Who wouldn't want to try candy pretzel rods? Sweet and salty, wrapped in flair. Drizzled popcorn is another favorite from Sensational Sweets. Forget what you know about delicious gourmet popcorn and focus your taste buds on the most refined of them all. Drizzled popcorn will be the result of your cravings every single time.

The treats don't stop here by any means. Pollylops® are Sensational Sweets most creative product yet. They are chocolate suckers hand painted with unique designs. They are edible art at its finest. When the holidays roll around and your customers are looking for a delicious gift, point them toward Pollylops and other candies from Sensational Sweets.

The taste bud trip of a lifetime waits for you and your customers at …click here to read Ready To Try Unique Gourmet Candy?…

There's absolutely no comparison to wholesale hard candies from Dorothy Timberlake Candies! Even if the "sweet tooth" is enormous, no candy store confections compare to the selection at Dorothy Timberlake Candies. None. Not one. Nada.

Dorothy Timberlake Candies offers a huge selection of unique wholesale hard candies. From novelty candy to old fashioned sweet treats and even healing candies, find it all at Dorothy Timberlake Candies. Ready to delve into the delicious delights that is Dorothy Timberlake Candies? Walk down the candy lane and picture a wonderful world full of sweet, hand made barley candy.

In the world of Dorothy Timberlake Candies there are ice cream lollipops because there's just nothing like combining the best of two sweet worlds. Old fashioned peppermint twists help relive a world where peppermint sticks were found only at the general store miles away. What's a candy street without candy motorcycles? Dorothy Timberlake Candies has those too!

The tables are lined with candy dishes, of course, but these candy dishes are made of real hard candy! Flavors, designs and colors are unique to the owner because Dorothy Timberlake Candies has a fondness for personalized candies. Of course, not every colorful candy world is free of bugs. However, Dorothy Timberlake Candies gives everyone the chance to bite back! Suckers with bug shapes are the only things to worry about here. It's one sticky step for Mosquitoes, one giant leap for hard candy lovers.

Wholesale novelty candy like this makes celebrating fun. Imagine the smiling faces of guests at a baby shower as they unwrap their baby lollipops! There are suckers in the shape of storks carrying babies, cherub suckers, and even suckers in the shape of babies in a blanket (twins and triplets too!). There are also novelty candies for weddings and romantic occasions, birthdays, …click here to read Timberlake Candies Wrap Your Tongue In Deliciousness…

Oooh the mouth waters when visiting Candy Concepts! Wholesale candy and candy displays come together beautifully in a way that is makes it easy to act on the urges for a unique candy display in your store. Yum!

Candy is something that every little child thinks about from the moment their sleepy eyes open until they close again for bed. The first thing most children go for when shopping with mom and dad is the candy aisle. If it's a counter display of candy bars or gumballs, little ones make endearing pleas for a piece when it's time to checkout.

Candy machines set up near the door are also great ways to entice little mouths to enjoy some candy! They can fill their hand for just a quarter and everyone is satisfied! If it's grandma and grandpa with the little one, look out. The pleas get stronger and more sympathetic.

Thanks to Candy Concepts, you don't have to be the one saying "no" to these pleading children! Large and small candy displays filled with wholesale candy from Candy Concepts make it easy to …click here to read Thinking About Selling Sweets? Discover Candy Concepts!…

"Reach The World One Piece At A Time"

What began as a way to reach trick-or-treaters with a gospel message during the pagan holiday has now become one of sweetest ways to spread the Word. Thanks to inspirational candies and treats from Scripture Candy, spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is as simple as offering someone a piece of candy.

Whether buying scripture candy wholesale or just snatching up a few pieces to give to the kids at church, ordering inspirational candy from Scripture Candy gives you the products that people crave and confidence in the products that you're selling. Scripture Candy knows how important it is to provide parents with this same confidence in the candy from your store. With a sweet treat wrapped inside an inspirational package, it is difficult to pass up these delectable confections!

Holidays are a great time to remind customers that your store carries the products that they'll want to give or even buy for themselves. What woman doesn't love …click here to read The Sweet Treat of Scripture Candy…

Sweeten Your Bottom Line with Candies and Confections

As a retailer, you're always concerned about the bottom line. A sure-fire way to increase sales and offer customers something they'll keep coming back for is by offering candies and confections. All the major food chains know that if you ask, "Would you like fries with that?" most people will say "yes." So, why not incorporate that same selling technique with candies your customers can't say "no" to? Who can resist a luscious handmade chocolate, an old fashioned piece of candy or a piece of homemade fudge (maybe even made right in your store!)? FGMarket will introduce you to the wholesale candies and confections suppliers who can make it happen.

Eye-Catching Novelty Candy Focuses On Present-day Trends

Novelty candy is a great way to focus in on trends in the market as well as your unique customer base.
Many people find inspiration in little everyday ways. A unique way to inspire your customers is with candy from Scripture Candy. Every piece of candy they sell comes with a scripture verse on it. They have pocket tin candy, gum pocket tins, cream rolls, holiday candy, lollipops and suckers, jelly beans, tubs of candy and chocolate–literally, something for everyone. These make great add-ons to gifts, flowers, gourmet baskets, balloons–or even for the giver's own pocket!

Chocolate Candy Created With Novelty

Humor is always a great selling point, as Chocolate Crisis Center's products prove. They offer the "ultimate alternative chocolate remedy" for those in a chocolate crisis. Their chocolate candies are dispensed in Daily Dose, Mega Dose and Over Dose bottles, depending on the severity of the chocolate crisis. Their unique flavors like Candy Apple Caramels, Tiramisu Cocoa Caramels, Chocolate Cinnamon Buzz Bombs and Chocolate Raspberry are sure to heal even the weakest chocoholic.
Gourmet coffee lovers will perk up when they see Acapella Gourmet Foods gourmet chocolate coffee bars in your store. They come in a variety of irresistible flavors like Espresso, Toffee Espresso, Cappuccino and Caramel Macchiato.
Peters Imports offers novelty body candy that inspires in a rather different way. Their Chocoholics Body Talk Tattoo Kit and Body Frosting are delectable and edible. The Body Frosting comes in Chocolate and Chocolate Wild Cherry flavors. They also make chocolates that kids will enjoy, like their Madelaine Chocolate Crayons, a variety of chocolate "insects", and mesh bags of chocolate sports balls for soccer, basketball, baseball, football and golf, which make great party favors or team treats. They also offer boxed candy like Anastasia Coconut Patties, Key Lime Coconut Patties, and Bodgons Kahlua Candy Sticks.

Chocolat by Quintessential Chocolates offers exquisite, handmade, liquid filled chocolates your customers won't be able to resist. They specialize in spirits, wine, coffee and fruits for the liquid centers in their chocolates. Their flavors include Kentucky Bourbon, Crème de Menthe, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cappuccino Coffee, Southern Pecan Coffee and Raspberry Chocolate, just to name a few.

A Candy Gift For All Tastes

If you have a customer base of dog lovers, dog bone shaped mints will be a hit with them. Blizzard's Bones packages these peppermints in tins and promise an "exhilarating rescue from stale breath."
Fruit candies are especially tempting when they come from the sunny orchards of the historic Shenandoah Valley and Millcroft Farms Company. They fill their apple candy with the finest apples and nuts available for a taste of old-fashioned goodness.

Old Fashioned Fudge A Tasty Reminder Of The Past

Nothing says old fashioned goodness like homemade fudge and Arndt's Fudgery knows what that's all about. They offer 75 flavors of fudge including vanilla fudge, sugar-free and low-carb varieties. Some of their special flavors include Oreo Cookie, Dreamsicle, Key Lime, Caramel Apple Pie and German Chocolate Cake just to name a few. They also make selling their confections a piece of cake with support items such as display cases, candy bags, fudge boxes, stainless steel spatulas and "Fresh Fudge" banners.
The fragrant smell and sweet taste of fudge will draw people in should you choose to make fudge right in your store. Yohay Baking Company provides fudge mix and the equipment to simply and easily make this delicious candy. Giving a tempting treat to customers is a great way to say "thanks".

Bulk Up Future Profits With Candy & Candy Displays

Bulk candy from Tropical Foods is a great addition to your product line. Choose from favorites like rock candy, candy corn, jelly beans, hard candy, gummies, gumballs, and Jordan almonds among other varieties.
Candy Concepts specializes in wholesale candy displays, candy fixtures and containers for point of purchase retail stores. Their pre-filled candy displays are easy and make great use of space.

Offering sweets like chocolate candy, novelty candy, bulk candy and fudge can insure a steady stream of revenue for your business. Don't miss out on this satisfying way of turning sweet treats into sweet profits. Let the wholesale candy suppliers at FGmarket help you take advantage of your customers sweet tooth.

Contributor: Jill Evans