Many thanks to loyal reader Kristin, whom you can see in the picture at right, hiding behind the candy fortress and my coffee cup, for sending me an article about the world’s top ten best selling candies. It’s really a very interesting analysis about the global confectionery market and finishes with the list. When Kristin isn’t busy finding content for this blog, which is really my responsibility, I recruit her to help feed and hose down the oompa loompas and oil Jonny’s roller skates from time to time. She has her own duties too, like basically keeping the office running. We couldn’t do anything without her here.
The top ten is interesting in itself, but go read the article for more information.
M&Ms – Mars – USA
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk – Cadbury – UK
Milka – Kraft – Germany
Trident – Cadbury – Brazil
Meiji – Meiji Seika Kaisha – Japan
Orbit – Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. – Russia
Trident – Cadbury – Mexico
Hollywood – Cadbury – France
Vivident – Perfetti Van Melle – Italy
Hsu Fu Chi – Hsu Fu Chi International – China
Thanks, Kristin, for this article. The whole office appreciates your hard work. You are a true gem in our office of gem-colored candies.
Does this surprise you? What would you have guessed was the world’s top selling candy?
Mary-Louise Parker was recently interviewed by WebMD and was quoted as saying the she would, “rather have candy than a classic French pastry.” Of course, this thrilled us and our office oompa loompas to no end. Think about it – the delicate, sublimely sweet, flaky crust of a French pastry is nothing in comparison to some of her favorites: Tootsie Rolls, Smarties, Bit-o-Honeys and Butterfingers.
This excites me because up until now the only movie stars we have featured have been Peeps and Hilary. Granted, they are some of our favorite people, but they don’t have the star power and name recognition of Mary-Louise Parker.
The Milton Hershey School, located, as you might guess, in Hershey, PA, is celebrating a very special anniversary this year. For 100 years, the school, originally an orphanage, has been providing children with educational and life opportunities that have made a huge difference in their lives. Today, the Milton Hershey School is much more than an orphanage.
A little bit of history of the founding of the school, in 1909, from the “Our Heritage” historical timeline:
Deed of Trust is signed in New York City to create Hershey Industrial School. Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine established a boarding school for orphan boys to be located at the Homestead, Milton Hershey’s birthplace. In 1918, Milton Hershey placed $60 million dollars (his entire fortune) in Trust for the School. In 1951 the Hershey Industrial School changed its name to the Milton Hershey School.
This is incredible. Think about the endowment you could establish today with that much money. But in today’s dollars, that $60 million is roughly equivalent to $858 million, according to the consumer price index. That amount of money is staggering, especially considering that it was his entire fortune he set aside for the school. That type of giving is something rare, something very special.
Today we are 52 days away from the official anniversary. In conjunction with the anniversary, the school is setting itself an ambitious goal. It plans to expand from 1800 students to 2100, which means adding or expanding facilities in a very dramatic way. In addition, Hershey is currently looking for students and staff as well!
You will see a few more posts on the Milton Hershey School as our countdown continues. In the meantime, go to the school’s site and read about the good work they do. Hershey is known for fun and games but there is another side to the company – a heritage of education and giving for the good of society.
I’m up in New York talking to magazine editors about some of the great new candy products that were launched at last month’s ALL CANDY EXPO. That means that I’m in a hotel room without access to TIVO and that means I have to watch live TV.
Ugh. Commercials.
Only tonight I was pretty excited to see this commercial. I love it when companies that have nothing to do with candy use candy to advertise their products.
It’s a real testament to how beloved candy is in our culture. It’s one of the first foods we eat purely for enjoyment and one of the foods we continue to eat for our whole lives (although our tastes in candy usually progress).
Given the special place candy occupies in our lives, it’s no wonder so many companies outside the industry use candy to sell products. This commercial actually features a song about candy AND imagery designed to replicate candy manufacturing – a double whammy!
As I was typing this post, I saw another advertisement featuring candy … it involved a piñata and 10 pieces of candy. Does anyone know what it was advertising?
What advertisements have you seen that use candy to sell a non-candy product?
Endangered Species Chocolate is giving away a year’s supply of chocolate to a lucky winner who completes their online survey. This all led me, as well as the fine folks over at Cacao Bug, to wonder what a year’s supply of chocolate would look like.
The actual prize is laid out in the contest rules:
“The winner of the Grand Prize will be awarded seventy two (72) chocolate bars at one time, one shipment. (ARV: $279.00) (Guaranteed “Enjoy by date” of 12 months). The shipment will consist of twelve (12) bars of the following flavors, Supreme Dark Chocolate, Extreme Dark Chocolate, Smooth Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with Mint, Dark Chocolate with Cranberries and Almonds, and Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut Toffee.”
72 chocolate bars. That’s six bars per month or roughly 1.5 per week. I suppose that’s about enough to sustain me. What do you envision as being your ultimate year’s consumption of chocolate?
I did photograph this but I have to give credit to my brother Leroy, who was with me in my studio and was the brains behind the small grouping of berries off to the side. I think that really makes the photo more interesting. It’s funny how small touches like that really affect the whole look of an image. After we were done shooting, I let him take the chocolate covered blueberries home for his wife. Photographers’ wives need special care sometimes. Thanks for your help, Leroy!
Do you want your candy photos featured here? Submit them to the Candy Dish Blog Flickr group. We want to see your candy photos and so does the rest of the world!
I got to meet Milton Hershey last week while on vacation in Egypt. You don’t believe me? I can send you an email to prove it, complete with a picture of Mr. Hershey and me, riding a “surly camel.” Or at least I can send you an “edition” of The Hershey Press which says that Milt and I are tight.
The newspaper memento is courtesy of The Hershey Story, a fantastic “interactive state-of-the-art museum” in Hershey, Pennsylvania which celebrates the life of Milton Hershey, the founder of The Hershey Company. There are many cool things to do in the museum including two hour-long chocolate labs. “Where in the World?” takes you on a journey to the countries that grow cocoa and lets you create your own unique chocolate bar with chocolate from the country of your choice. “Choconomics” finds you designing your own candy bar with the specific ingredients you chose based on flavor, cost and your ultimate consumer.
There’s also an apprenticeship program – a treasure hunt to solve pieces of a puzzle throughout the Museum. One part of this program lets you create one of several newspaper headlines, complete with your picture and that of Mr. Hershey. In addition to the printout of your newspaper you can email it to yourself or anyone you choose. Other exhibits let you easily create your own classic candy advertisement, again allowing you to email your creation.
I could go on and on, because really, except for the chocolate itself, not much is better than a chocolate museum, especially one that sneaks up and educates you when you don’t even know it.
Many thanks to loyal reader Kristin, whom you can see in the picture at right, hiding behind the candy fortress and my coffee cup, for sending me an article about the world’s top ten best selling candies. It’s really a very interesting analysis about the global confectionery market and finishes with the list. When Kristin isn’t busy finding content for this blog, which is really my responsibility, I recruit her to help feed and hose down the oompa loompas and oil Jonny’s roller skates from time to time. She has her own duties too, like basically keeping the office running. We couldn’t do anything without her here.
The 
