Check out the ECRM Favorites video

This year, ECRM held it’s annual Candy Planning: Christmas & Halloween event at the at Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Fla.

Candy Industry Magazinealso created a video this year, featuring Managing Editor Crystal Lindell’s favorite candy from the show. Be sure to check out CandyIndustry.com for an in-depth look at the products she saw and to find out which one she couldn’t resisit eating on the plane ride home!

During the event, Candy Industry Magazine also partnered with ECRM to host the annual Kid’s Choice Awards. We invited kids from the local Boys and Girls Club to show them what it’s really like to be a candy buyer — one big sugar high. Congratulations to all the winners! We can’t wait to do it again next year!

2015 Kid’s Choice Award Winners

BEST NEW NON-CHOCOLATE

PEZ Hedz Soft Candy Chews

PEZ Candy, Inc., Orange, Conn.

(800) 243-6087
S.R.P.: (5-oz. bag) $2.39

PEZ Hedzare new premium soft candy chews made in delicious flavors and fun designs, like those you would find on top of aPEZ dispenser.  They come in two delicious varieties: Bearz andHelly Kitty.

The Bearz variety includes a grape flavor with lemon and strawberry ears, a peach flavor with raspberry and strawberry ears, and a cherry flavor with blueberry and strawberry ears. While the Hello Kitty variety includes a  strawberry flavor with a strawberry bow and a raspberry flavor with a blueberry bow.

BEST NEW NOVELTY

Juicy Drop Gummies

Bazooka Candy Brands, New York

(866) 949-1666
S.R.P.: $1.60 to $2.20

Bazooka Candy Brands, a division of The Topps Co., Inc., has turned up the intensity in the gummy category. The incredibly popular Juicy Drop brand has expanded to now include Juicy Drop Gummies!

The product combines delicious sour-sanded gummies with the signature Juicy Drop sour gel pen. Using a special “drop zone” on the gummy, consumers combine the two for an amazing taste experience.

Juicy Drop Gummies challenge taste buds with an exciting line-up of deliciously sour flavors including: Knock-Out Punch, Blue Rebel, Apple Attack and Watermelon Blast.

BEST NEW CHOCOLATE

Where’s Waldo? Chocolate Bars

Praim, Salem, Mass.

(978) 745-9100

S.R.P: (3.5-oz chocolate bar) $1.99 - $2.49

It took 25 years, but someone finally found Waldo — and with a delicious result. Praim Group announced its new line of Where’s Waldo? chocolate bars so now customers can search out the bespectacled icon while enjoying a sweet treat.

“These designs are fun and interactive and children and adults will not only like the chocolate, but can play with the wrapper as well,” says Paul Pruett, ceo of Praim Group.