The Annabelle Candy Co. wants to say ¡Hola! to the Mexican and Mexican-American communities in the U.S.

The Hayward, Calif.-based confectioner - which makes Rocky Road, BIG HUNK, Abba-Zaba, LOOK, and U-NO candy bars - is planning a new sales initiative to reach California Latinos. Susan Gamson Karl, president and ceo, said the company now offers bilingual wrappers for Rocky Road and BIG HUNK, and plans to do the same for it’s other brands.

Karl said she was inspired to make the marketing push after having success with Annabelle’s candy products in Mexico.

“With the latest census, we really saw that the growth of the Latino market is very, very large and we thought we weren’t getting the benefit of the sales in the U.S. because a lot of stores that carry Hispanic bars don’t carry U.S. products,” Karl says.

The company has hired a broker distributor and a Latinos public relations firm, Mosaico Public Relations, to help facilitate the transition. Annabelle Candy Co. has been in business for 60 years and has 25 years of distribution in the Mexican market.

It’s sold more than 3 million candy bars in Mexico in the past five years alone.

For more information, visit www.annabelle-candy.com.