What’s The Deal With Wonka Bars ?

It has always been one of life’s most searching questions – where can one buy Wonka bars? Or more specifically – where can one buy original Wonka bars?

The Quaker Oats Company, who also financed the original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory film, made the first Wonka bar in order to capitalize on the release of the first film in 1971. This bar was an exact replica of the bar featured in the movie and contained a golden ticket – unfortunately the chocolate tasted horrible and the bar was quickly withdrawn from the market. The wrappers of this version were brown with an orange and pink border and a top hat over the "W" in Wonka, similar to the film's logo. This was the classic Wonka bar design that is still much sought after today.

A Chicago company called Breaker Confections produced a new range of Wonka bars during the 1970s and 1980s, before Nestle bought the rights to the brand in 1988 and started producing their own range. The first Wonka bar by Nestle featured purple packaging and consisted of milk chocolate with bits of Graham crackers inside. Over the years Nestle have added new flavours but, unfortunately, the Nestle range of Wonka bars has never really captured the public imagination the way the original bar did and Nestle have had to re-launch their range on more than one occasion. 

In 2012, Nestle pulled their latest Wonka range, called Wonka Exceptionals, from the UK market due to poor sales before re-launching a brand new range twelve months later. In the meantime, an imitation bar that was designed to resemble the classic 1971 bar was in wide circulation. The origins of this bar were a bit sketchy and there was much publicity during the Summer of 2013 when Trading Standards officials seized a large quantity of these bars from shops around the UK due to the packaging containing no information on ingredients or place of origin. 

Where to find original Wonka bars with the golden ticket? You can search for Nestle’s products or the imitation version produced by “chocolate pirates” in the UK. But, considering the popularity of the chocolate pirates imitation, maybe a better question to ask is this: why don’t Nestle produce their own 1971 replica? It would certainly fly off the shelves!

www.planetcandy.ie

Creating a DIY Candy Buffet For Your Wedding

Congratulations! You have decided to feature a candy buffet at your wedding reception! Colourful and enticing – candy buffets look great, generate excitement and provide the perfect icebreaker among guests at your reception. But what are the next steps? Here are some key questions you need to consider when creating your dream candy buffet...

What candy should I buy?
When choosing what kind of candy to buy for your buffet, there are some key points to keep in mind. Firstly, you need to decide upon a theme for your buffet – your theme could be a certain colour or a certain type of sweet, for example retro sweets – which is a very popular and easy to create theme. Check out some ideas for themes here. Secondly, you want to choose a well-rounded mix of sweets so that as many of your guests as possible will find something they like. Jellies, licorice, chocolate, lollipops and boiled sweets are always popular among guests.

How much candy should I buy?
You will probably provide candy bags at your buffet so that your guests can fill up a bag and take it away as a favour. Bearing this in mind, a good rule of thumb is to provide 200g of candy for each guest – so if you had one hundred guests, you would require seven 3kg bags of candy to fill your buffet. Some of the guests will take more than 200g, some will take less and some will take none at all – so this rule should ensure there is enough to go around.

How far in advance should I buy the candy?
It is best to buy candy for your buffet close to the event so that the candy is as fresh as possible. However, it is also advisable to order early enough so that you can comfortably source and order everything you need. Ordering between 3-6 weeks prior to the event is the ideal time to order. Make sure to store your candy in a cool and dry place after you receive it, as this will prevent it from spoiling.

How should I display my candy?
You should buy different shapes and sizes of candy to add variety to your display and this also applies to the containers you use. There are no particular containers you should use, though glass is popular. As long as different shapes and sizes are used, your display will catch the eye.

Where to place the buffet?
The buffet can be placed in the main reception area prior to the meal and then moved to the banquet room for after dinner. You may be concerned that placing it in the main reception area prior to the meal will ruin your guests’ appetite but generally your guests have enough sense not to overindulge and there will still be plenty of candy left for after dinner. Your guests will love filling up a bag and snacking on the candy after dinner and if you are choosing to display in just one area then this is the option recommended.

How will I set up my buffet?
Most hotels will set up the buffet for you as long as you provide them with the display containers and the sweets. If you have hired a wedding planner then ask them to arrange to set it up for you.

So with these key questions in mind, it is time for the fun part - creating your perfect candy buffet. Enjoy!

www.planetcandy.ie

Love Hearts Sweets

Time to review a classic retro sweet - Love Hearts. 

While countless old-time favourites have mysteriously vanished through the decades, Love Hearts have grown in influence and popularity. 

First produced in the 1950s as a fizzy sweet with cheesy chat-up lines printed upon them, Love Hearts quickly became embedded in popular culture - it soon became a rite of passage for young men to woo their first loves with a pack. 

The risque nature of the chat up lines (Tease Me, Say Yes, Break Me) combined with the fruity, fizzy flavours, have seen the sweet take on a life of its own and a whole spin-off industry has developed around the brand, including jewellery, stationery and homewares.

Love Hearts have also become a very popular table favour for weddings - it is even possible to have them personalised for the occasion. 

So why not show your love with a pack of Love Hearts?

www.planetcandy.ie

Whatever happened to Lucky Charms?

For a time, in the 1990s, a generation of Irish youngsters grew tall on the breakfast fuel of General Mills Lucky Charms - and then the magically delicious cereal magically disappeared.

The famous cereal was first produced in the 1960s when a General Mills marketing executive came up with the idea of mixing marshmallows into a bowl of oats to coax his daughter into eating her breakfast cereal. Sales only really took off when the oats were coated in sugar - giving the cereal it's famously sweet reputation. A leprechaun mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun, was soon introduced and the rest, as they say, is history.

The cereal was widely available in Ireland and the UK in the 1990s before vanishing overnight from supermarket shelves, leaving an entire generation emotionally devastated. The most common perception is that the cereal was banned due to it's sugar content, but this was never the case as Lucky Charms contains no more sugar than Kellogg's Frosties or Coco Pops.

The two most credible theories are that General Mills pulled the cereal from the Irish and UK markets because either the leprechaun character was deemed offensive or because extra tax had to be paid on the cereal due to it containing marshmallows - making it too expensive to export.

However, all is not lost - the cereal is still available in both the original and the chocolate versions, as an American import, from stores such as Planet Candy, where it makes the perfect treat for those still suffering from withdrawal symptoms or for those curious to discover the magic of Lucky Charms.

www.planetcandy.ie