The average American consumes 24 pounds of candy each year. Most of these sweet treats are collected and enjoyed on major holidays. Americans spent more than two billion dollars on Halloween candy in 2011. gummies for sleep That’s more than 600 million pounds of sweets! They spend a bit less on Easter candy, around 2 billion, making it the second biggest candy consuming holiday of the year.
All told, Americans eat more than 7 billion pounds of candy per annum! Just about half of those sweets have chocolate in them. Whether in bar form or simply used as a coating, chocolate is easily the most popular candy flavor. What do we like?
Long after they stop eating them, most adults buy candy on special occasions because it is a personal favorite. Whether they are handing it out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween or putting it out for the grand kids, they select sweets based on nostalgia. Candy is one of the few foods that can instantly transport grownups back to the childhoods. They remember what it was like to be a kid and to enjoy a sugary snack on the front stoop. They buy the old candies they used to eat because they want others to have the same experience.
As if we needed another excuse to enjoy candy, June has been proclaimed National Candy Month. Why June? Maybe because it’s one of the only months that doesn’t have a major candy-related holiday. Sales of sweets do not increase in the month for that very reason. However, many candy makers offer special discounts and deals in June. Let us take a moment to review a few of their most popular items.
Hershey’s Kisses
These famous chocolate drops were introduced in 1907 and remain almost unchanged to this day. The bite-size candies have a distinctive shape and wrapper that is made of aluminum foil with a narrow strip paper on top. The company makes more than 60 million of them each day, making Hershey’s Kisses one of the world’s most popular chocolate brands. Although the original is still the most popular, there are more than a dozen varieties of Kisses that are sold in the United States and in Canada. All of them are made with chocolate but contain different ingredients and fillings. There are Kisses that are filled with caramel, white chocolate, peanut butter, coconut cream, almonds, and macadamia nuts. Most of these variations are only offered on a seasonal basis and in certain parts of North America. Unlike larger wrapped candies, Hershey’s Kisses can be purchased in bulk quantities. Candy sellers on the internet offer deep discounts on large orders of loose candy.
Tootsie Rolls
Introduced in 1896, Tootsie Roll was the first penny candy that was individually wrapped. At a time when most candy makers were producing milk chocolate treats, the inventor of the chewy, log-shaped candy, Leo Hirschfeld, saw a flaw. Because they were not wrapped, chocolate candies would melt rather quickly on a hot day. The master chocolatiers set out to invent a chocolate treat that would not deliquesce. His Tootsie Roll was not only tougher, it was also a lot cheap than traditional chocolates. Because of its hardness and appeal, his creation was included in American soldiers’ field ration kits during World War II. Tootsie Rolls have been made continuously since their creation and are one of the world’s most popular candies. According to the company, more than 64 million of them are produced on a daily basis. In addition to the original chocolate flavor, Tootsie Roll has introduced a line of fruit-flavored candies that they call Tootsie Fruit Rolls. The flavors include orange, lemon, cherry, and lime.
Jujubes
One of the earliest Western candies, Jujubes have been around since the late 19th century. These small candy drops are made of corn syrup, starch, and gum. As you might expect, they are quite chewy. The company that made them in America, Heide Candy Company, began production in 1920. Original flavors included lemon, rose, violet, lilac, and spearmint. The lineup was subsequently simplified, with orange replacing lilac, red replacing rose, and purple replacing violet.
Jujubes are different from most other gelatin-based candies, such as gummi bears or worms. They are much harder and much tougher. As a result, it is extremely difficult to actually chew them up. Most candy lovers simply suck on them until they are soft enough to masticate. Jujubes are sometimes considered a type of hard candy, since they are eaten the same way as peppermints and Jolly Ranchers.