By Kelly (Kennedy) Brinkmann RCI Executive Director
This year, chocolate has taken members of Retail Confectioners International (RCI) around the globe. During the European Study Tour of Northern Italy, 50 chocolate makers and suppliers trekked through towns big and small in search of the best stores.
Palliative therapy. It’s a term I wasn’t really familiar with until
this year. It refers to any kind of care or treatment that concentrates
on reducing the severity of disease symptoms. The goal is not to cure,
but to provide comfort and enhance the quality of life.
It’s been a long, hot summer here in the Midwest -- the kind that makes playing outdoor sports exhausting, getting sunburned more likely and shipping chocolate extremely difficult (as recently received product samples prove).
Call me a “homer,” if you will, but in case you haven’t heard, the
mighty Chicago Blackhawks have captured Lord Stanley’s Cup, the mega
trophy that’s given to the winning team within the National Hockey
League (NHL) here in North America.
I suppose that having the occasion to sample and then judge chocolates from some new as well as established chocolatiers can be viewed as a task that only a chosen few have been graced with. To do so twice, would seem a luxury that few are accorded. Amazingly, such an opportunity did befall me.
On the way to the airport recently, my friend Angelique, who drove me, stopped at a gas station and bought her three children some Laffy Taffy for the trip. The kids, who until that point had been babbling on nonstop, went silent once the sticky ropes were in their eager hands.
Chocolate and non-chocolate novelties as well as fruity confections for Easter 2011 include new takes on the traditional egg, seasonal versions of top-selling brands and gift-worthy packaged products for kids and adults alike. Satisfy shoppers with perennial favorites, and entice them with eye-catching innovations to help increase sales at retail.
Don’t know if you’ve had a chance to catch one of the more recent
missives from the Center for Public Science (CSPI) -- you know, that
Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group headed by Michael
Jacobson, often referred to by some as the “Food Police.”
Forget those new thrill rides at Kennywood, Carowinds and Kings Dominion. Nevermind the debut of Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Adults and kids looking for somewhere special to go on family vacation this summer need look no further for fun than Hershey, Pa., site of its latest attraction: Hershey’s Create Your Own Candy Bar.
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