Cooking Up Some Toffee With Boxcar - Another Sweet Place That's Open For Business

We have yet another great sweet company to check out today. For the next little while, we’re going to look at sweet places that can still bring a smile to your face. Today we’re looking at a candy company out of the good old US of A.

Cooking With Boxcar might seem like an unconventional name of a place to get homemade toffee, but don't let the name fool you. These guys make classic toffees, and John (AKA Boxcar) has a pretty deep Italian cooking family history to make sure he's doing it right.

During these difficult time, Cooking With Boxcar has continued to stay open to make sure anybody craving a crunchy bite of toffee isn't denied. They even have some interesting deals on right now for Mother's Day.  Since they deliver almost anywhere in the USA, make sure to check out cookingwithboxcar.com if you need some crunchy sweet fun right now.

(ED – This is not a paid advertisement, we here at Candy Critic want to help the local candy shops in this very difficult time. If you’re feeling down, and you need a little sweet treat, make sure to visit the website of your local candy shop, and consider placing an order, many are still open for curbside pick up or delivery. If you run a small sweet, snack or dessert shop, let us know, we’ll be happy to feature you on this blog and on our social media to let people know you’re still open for business.) 

Cadbury Proof - Part 2

Photo by Adam Montpetit www.behance.net/amontpetit

Almost 5 years ago I posted a blog about the purchase of Cadbury by Kraft (You can read it here).  I said in this post that I would save a Dairy Milk wrapper that was purchased when Cadbury wasn't owned by Kraft, then in one year I would compare the bars and see if there were any changes made.  Life got in the way and I wasn't able to write the article in one year.  Then after having moved several times, I lost the wrapper.  However, after having moved again recently, I was going through my file drawer and I came across the Dairy Milk wrapper from almost 5 years ago.  It reminded me that I should check up on how Cadbury/Kraft was doing.  See if they've made any great advancements, as well as check to make sure they're not lowering their standards in any way.

Since I'm not living in Canada right now, the place where I bought the original bar, I had to ask around and see if anybody would be willing to help me out by purchasing and photographing a Dairy Milk bar for me in Canada.  Fortunately my friend Adam (check out his awesome photo website here) was happy to oblige.  Probably both to help, and also to have an excuse to eat some chocolate after his photo shoot.  The first picture on this post is of the current state of the Dairy Milk bar in Canada, the photo directly above is of the wrapper from almost 5 years ago.  The wrapper itself has gone through a bit of updating, but I must say not much.  The two glasses of milk are still there, and the logo is almost exactly the same.  The colour of the package may have changed a bit, but that could also be a lighting thing.  The Dairy Milk font has changed a little, and the biggest change is the addition of the giant chocolate jug.  So far this is fairly promising.

Photo by Adam Montpetit www.behance.net/amontpetit

Upon comparing the ingredients, I'm happy to report that the order that they appear is still the same, and there appears to be little or no change to the ingredients.  This doesn't mean that there is definitely no change at all.  Companies are required to list what ingredients are in a bar, not how much of each ingredient is in a bar.  That means that notionally they could lower the amount of cocoa in the bar, and keep the wrapper the same.  The only reason they would have to change the package is if the change affected the ratio of ingredients.  The ingredients are listed from most found in the bar to the least.  So the amount of cocoa would have to change to the point where there was either less cocoa than soy lecithin, or more cocoa than cocoa butter for a change to be required.

I'm also happy to report that they haven't changed the size of the bar either.  I've traveled around and seen "updated" Dairy Milk bars in the shapes of bubbles, and these bars were a few grams lighter than the Canadian Dairy Milk bar.  I was worried that the folks at Kraft had decided that this "new" shape would be the norm all over the world, and that they would shrink the size of the Dairy Milk bar.  But as the bar Adam purchased shows, 42 grams, is exactly the same weight as the one I purchased several years back. It would appear that Kraft is doing well and leaving this classic bar alone.

While I am very happy about the fact that the Dairy Milk bar hasn't changed in Canada, I'm not completely happy with the way Kraft has dealt with Cadbury products.  I was optimistic when the purchase happened that Kraft would try and make Cadbury products more universal.  I was hoping that they might try and move some Cadbury products into new markets and share the wealth.  Caramello Koalas should be available to everyone around the world, not just Australians, and Crunchy bars should be on every store shelf around the world.  Most importantly Cadbury should be available to my neighbors to the south, the Americans.  As far as I know Cadbury is still a specialty item in the US, and that's a shame.  It's about time Americans knew what great chocolate bars taste like, and maybe add a bit of competition into what I consider one of the weakest in quality of chocolate bar markets.

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Candy News

Take the (mostly) snack mascot quiz, find out how well you know the characters that sell you food.

One day I'd like to travel across the USA and sample all of their "iconic soft drinks".

If you want to make ice cream just like Thomas Jefferson, here's a little help.  If you want to make ice cream just like the ice cream man, here's a little help with that too. Finally, if you just want to know where ice cream came from, we can help you there too.

Japanese company makes an iPhone case that looks like someone accidentally left a Popsicle on your iPhone.

As it turns out there are really only 10 companies that make almost all of the processed food you eat.

Cadbury has invented a machine that will tell you what kind of chocolate you like, based on your Facebook profile.

Annabel de Vetten made an awesome wedding cake that looks normal from one side, but the other side shows you the biology of this creepy cake.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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This Week In Candy

I've noticed a disturbing trend lately with one of my favorite chocolate bars.  I can't claim that I know something is going on, but I'm very worried by certain actions this candy company has taken.  I'm doing a little more research into this chocolate bar right now, and I hope to have a full report up later this week.  All I can say is I may be changing my mind about one of my favorite chocolate bars after I'm finished writing this piece.  (But don't worry, it's not Kit Kat)

Speaking of Kit Kat, my friend Jon sent me the link to the official Kit Kat website to point out how on board they are with the new Android operating system.  As you may have read last week, Android has officially announced that they're new operating system will be called Kit Kat.  This is to follow the trend of naming their operating systems after candy, however this is the first time they've used the name of a particular candy brand.  It'll be interesting to see how this works out, and if anybody from Android or Kit Kat want to send me a preview copy, I'd be glad to write it up on this blog... *cricket... cricket.... cricket*

Stay tuned this week for our regular segments, and if I get it out on time I should have the piece that I described above done as well.  I'm also working on a few pieces for the print media (or general entertainment, food, or news blogs), but I'm just looking to try and find someone interested in publishing them.  If you happen to be a big time editor, let me know if you'd be interested in checking these pieces out.

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Candy News

Isn't sugar, salt, and fat enough for you people, now you want everything caffeinated too?

Has ice cream changed since you were a kid, I think in some ways it's better.

Aeration seems like a way for candy companies to give you less chocolate for the same price, but some claim it's actually what people want.

So are smaller portions good for you, or are they making you eat more junk food?

However, if you have an urge to eat too many little treats, there's a simple way to stop that urge, and it can take as little as 30 seconds.

Here's a great wrap up on the return of Hostess snacks, and who's making them now.

The idea of horse meat grosses a lot of people out, how about bugs?

So you want to avoid buying the big brands of candy, and just deal with the nice local companies?  Well it's a lot harder than you think.

They want to take the fat out of chocolate and replace it with juice, this just seems like a bad idea.

Mars has already released its list of Valentine's Day treats for next year, and you guessed it, lots of varieties of M&Ms.

Did you know that if you spread all of the Nutella used over the course of a year, you could cover 1000 soccer fields?  Here's a few more Nutella facts you might not know.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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What Flavour of Gum Would You Like To Try?

Of all of the varieties of candy that I review on candycritic.org, gum is the one that's excites me the least.  I tend to not really do that many gum reviews, and there's a reason.  I find that the gum industry is stuck in a wheel, and they just keep coming back with the same ideas over and over again.  There are advancements in gum technology, and they're great, but very often I'm stuck with the same flavour over and over again.  No matter what your advertising campaign, and no matter what your package looks like, it's very hard to convince me that your gum is that much different than the rest and it's all because of one thing, flavour.

The biggest advancements we've seen in gum over the years has focused on very specific areas, mainly sugar substitution, texture, and naturalness.  I can't argue that gums like Glee Gum, and Rev 7 have created some amazing advancements in the gum world.  They've not only improved the way gum feels in our mouths, but they've improved what it does to our bodies and what gum does to our environment.  I just feel that there are more directions you can take to improve gum, and that many companies are avoiding the obvious.

To me the obvious choice in gum advancement is flavour.  Some companies are adjusting their flavour to use natural ingredients, but for the most part the flavour choices are all the same, dozens of varieties of mint, cinnamon,  berries, and citrus fruits.  Even plain bubble gum is just a variation on mint.  The chocolate bar industry has started to really mix it up, ingredients like bacon, salt, and hot peppers aren't that strange at all.  Fancy chocolates have gone even further, but gum just seems to use the same flavours over and over again.  Every time I see a new kind of gum out on the market, it's a new gum with the same flavours.  And even worse, the new trend is towards mixing these old and tired flavours, rather than coming up with something totally new.

After all of this complaining, I'm sure you're wondering, what flavour of gum do you want?  I'll be honest, I'm not sure what flavour of gum I'd prefer over the regularly used flavours. The thing is, I'd like to try quite a few.  I think Umami flavours might work very well in a gum mode.  Yes I would eat a piece of meat flavoured gum, but I'd also be interested in mushroom and other earthy flavours.  I think some other green vegetable flavours would be nice as well, people have been chewing leaves and grass for ages so why not incorporate that into gum.

Part of the problem I have in suggesting new and creative flavours of gum is that I've never been given the chance to really experiment.  No gum making company has ever challenged me with flavours like Jelly Belly, or even some of the fine Belgian chocolatiers.  These flavours exist in the lexicon of artificial and natural flavours, why aren't you using them to make a gum that changes the way we think about chewing.

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Will You Ever Eat a Twinkie Again?

So I'm sure you've read just about everywhere that Hostess, makers of Twinkies is going belly up.  At first this news sent shock waves across the candy eating world, but slowly the rubble is being picked up and we're learning that things are not as bad as they seem.


Let me first say that I don't believe you should run out of your house right now and stockpile Twinkies.  Although it wouldn't be a bad thing to stockpile since they pretty much last forever.  The reason why you don't have to worry is the sales numbers that come with Twinkies (as well as other fun sweet treats made by Hostess).  The sales of these items doesn't appear to be the source of the problem for Hostess, it looks as though management choices and other outside problems have shut down the company.

So what does this mean for the consumer?  To put it simply, the Twinkie is a popular food item, and although Hostess will no longer make them, I'm pretty sure another company will buy the recipe/rights to sell them.  So you'll probably never have another Hostess Twinkie, but you'll probably be eating Twinkies again real soon.  In fact in some countries there's a possibility that you won't even have a break from eating Twinkies.  For example, in Canada, Hostess is owned by Weston Bakeries, and not Hostess USA.  That means that they may continue to sell Twinkies as they always have.  Even if for some strange reason Hostess USA doesn't sell the Twinkie to another company, there's a good chance you can still import them from Canada.

So let's imagine the worst, say that Hostess refuses to sell the brands, and they have a clause in their contracts with Weston (and any other foreign company making Twinkies) saying that if Hostess USA stops then you have to stop making them as well.  You're still not out of luck.  As it turns out the Internet is full of recipes for Twinkies.  So sure it might take a bit of work, but if you're really craving a Twinkie, all is not lost.

Here's a two news stories about the sale of Twinkies (and other brands) from Hostess.  One here, and one here.

If you're not convinced about the importance of Twinkies, here's "5 movies where Twinkies played a supporting role"

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This Week In Candy

Last week, sadly, our little pet cockatiel Jody passed away.  She's been with us since the start of Candy Critic and she lived a pretty good life.  She not only provided us with a fun distraction, but on occasion she was know to have sampled a few of the salty snacks along with us (we didn't let her eat the sweet ones).  She will be missed.

Well, back to the candy, in particular, Halloween.  I've noticed a new trend in Halloween, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.  I think kids these days aren't really as "into" Halloween as the grown ups.  While my family enjoyed Halloween and we always went out trick or treating, I don't think my parents generation got all dressed up as people do now.  Basically I think Halloween is turning into an adults holiday, maybe even more than a kids holiday.  I start to wonder how this will affect the candy portion of this tradition.

Finally I'm still looking for more candy companies that are releasing special treats for Halloween.  If you're a candy company with any kind of special treats out for the upcoming holiday, drop us a line because we want to promote you for free.

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Tuesday's Candy Links

More chocolate, more selection, this is the kind of news I like to hear from local chocolate makers.

If you think that the size of cola servings is the problem with the world today, you can pretty much just blame Pepsi.

If you have several thousand dollars to blow on a meal today, here's a list of 15 of the World’s Most Expensive Foods. Did the $25,000 sundae catch your eye, here's some specifics on it.

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Candy Art - Sugar Graphic

Created by: www.OnlineNursingPrograms.com

I recently got this graphic with this e-mail attached:

"I’m part of the design team at OnlineNursingPrograms.com and we created this graphic that illustrates issues related to the consumption of sugar and how it relates to our health. I came across your site and wanted to pass it along in case you had any interest."

While it might not show, I am a huge advocate for cutting down your sugar consumption.  I believe that the key to doing this is to eat higher quality, more satisfying, treats.  I also believe that people aren't aware of all of the sugar they might be consuming.  I don't think the candy industry is the big bad monster.  I believe that if you're eating a handful of gummy bears, you know they're not healthy for you, but they are a nice treat.  I think people should cut down on candy, but I also believe that all food companies should be more honest about the food they make.  I also believe that, although not perfect, the candy business is one of the most honest businesses when it comes to health.

I'm posting this graphic because I believe you should be healthy.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising - Olympic Fever

During the run up to the Olympics, many companies  sponsor athletes, including many candy companies.  Some people think that these sponsors are just interested in the promotion, but when I volunteered for the Special Olympics a few years back, I can tell you that many  sponsors  do it because they want to help.

As usual, I found this ad on Vintage Ad Browser.

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Friday's Candy Links

I got a green potato chip in my bag of chips, and now I know why.

There's ice cream sandwiches, and then there's the glory that is the Brioche Con Gelato.

Big candy merger just happened, Farley’s & Sathers and Ferrara Pan, let's see what they produce.

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Friday's Candy Links

Frustrated by Pringles packaging design?  Someone came up with a solution that would change the whole game.

I just discovered Lollyphille, it's a company that makes the strangest lollypop flavours you can imagine.

Ever wondered which corporation owns which company in the food industry, well here's a handy infographic to help you out.

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Friday's Candy Links

You know that horrible white stuff that builds up on chocolate?  It's called a "chocolate fat bloom", and science is trying to make it a thing of the past.

The story of a new owner buying a nearly 100 year old candy company in an attempt to keep it alive and kicking.

Man gives away candy at baseball games, he is a legend, and he deserves all the credit he gets.

What happens when a truck full of candy and a truck full of coins meet? I don't know, but it looks tragically spectacular.

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Chocolate Wars In Russia

While I don't dislike large candy companies, I do worry about the state of some of the classic treats of the world.  This article deals with the issues in Russia of the popularization of US and British brands, and how they're starting to take over the candy market.  There are some great Russian candy treats out there that the world really should sample, and it would be sad to see them disappear forever.

Click here to read more.

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There's Money In Them There Candies

According to Forbes magazine, the owner of Ferrero, makers of Nutella and many other find chocolate type products, is one of the richest men in the whole world.  Maybe I should stop promoting his chocolate hazel nut spread so much on this site until he drops me a check or two... alas I don't think I can, it just tastes so good.

Click here to read about Michele Ferrero.

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Growing Too Big Too Fast

Here's a great story of a chocolate company that got an offer that was a great opportunity to grow, but they realized that they might be growing too fast.  There is a line with chocolate and candy companies where you go from making great hand made treats, to making factory made (still high quality) treats.  No matter how hard you try you can't avoid changing your treat once you start production on a large scale.  The trick is to make sure you don't lose the loyal candy fans you already have.

Click here to read the article.

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What Good Candy Makers Need

Sure there's a little bit of skill, and a little bit of technique, but the most important thing you need is heart.  You have to want to make the best treats imaginable.  You have to worry about every detail.  If you don't, then you'll just make the same thing as everybody else, and most likely very poorly.  So when I read the story of a mother daughter team that puts heart into their treats, without even tasting a single one of their chocolates, I can tell they're fantastic.

Click here to read more about this team.

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A Note To Candy Companies

If you're wondering why food bloggers (particularly candy bloggers) do what they do you might want to read this link.  You should know that food bloggers (particularly candy bloggers) don't make much, if any, money.  We just love food, love candy, and love everything it provides.  If you want to know how to deal with food bloggers (particularly candy bloggers), then read this article.

Click here to read the article.

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Go Team Lollipops

The link below goes to an interesting article about a simple idea that seems to be taking off.  Mark Lenhart had the idea of creating lollipops in the shape of college mascots.  With a bit of leg work and licencing negotiations it appears that this idea is starting to really work out for him.  After all what could be more fun than sucking on a George Town Bulldog?

Click here to read more.

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