Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/375622
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate New Cube Gift Boxes. New 6-ounce Cube gift boxes come in six flavors, including the wintry creme mints and rocky road marshmallow (plus sea salt popcorn bites, almond butter toffee, peanut butter pretzels, and sea salt pecan burrs). A take on peppermint patties, the creme mints are mint fondant covered in dark chocolate. Rocky road marshmallow starts with a century-old recipe for marshmallows, made with Madagascar vanilla, covered in milk chocolate and topped with roasted almonds. All of the choco- late—prepared with cane sugar in small batches by this 33-year-old company—is fair trade certified. chocolatechocolate.com Chuao Chocolatier Peace, Love & Peppermint Bar. What began as a bon- bon in a holiday set last year has returned as a Chuao chocolate bar. In this new sea- sonal bar, chef Michael Antonorsi combines crunchy peppermint candy cane bits with dark chocolate ganache that uses ethically sourced cacao. A slew of new flavors with colorful names and packaging make for great gifts year-round; the latest bars include Sweet & Salty (milk chocolate with sea salt), Pretzel Toffee Twirl (dark chocolate with crunchy mini pretzels and toffee), Ooh Ahh Almond (dark chocolate with caramelized salted whole almonds), and Oh My S'mores! (milk choc- olate with mini marshmallows and crushed honey graham crackers). chuaochocolatier.com Imagine Chocolate Holiday Series. Merging pop culture and chocolate, this company's themed assortments have musi- cal inspirations, with confections named for hit songs across the decades. Along with four chocolates, each 2.8-ounce box includes liner notes in the form of pop cul- ture trivia. For each box sold, the company makes a donation to Little Kids Rock, which provides music equip- ment and funding to U.S. public schools. The new Holiday Series includes four assortments: Christmas Classics, Holiday Cheer, December, and Winter Wonderland. Christmas Classics features White Christmas (vanilla walnut center in white chocolate), Holly Jolly Christmas (vanilla eggnog pecan center in white chocolate), Wonderful Christmas (green tea–infused dark chocolate center in dark chocolate), and Blue Christmas (milk chocolate blueberry almond center in milk chocolate). imaginechocolate.net Jo's Candies Peppermint Truffle Candy Cane Box. This new keepsake col- lectible box shaped like a candy cane—and small enough to fit inside a holiday stocking—fits seven festive truffles. Non-GMO white chocolate squares are filled with chocolate ganache and sprinkled with bits of pep- permint candy. The 3.5-ounce package complements other peppermint-flavored treats in the company's line, including dark chocolate-covered cremes, bark (available in tins and gift bags), cookies, bites (candy pieces infused with peppermint oil), dark chocolate popcorn, and white chocolate popcorn. Founded in 1946 with chocolate-covered graham crackers, the company employs old-fashioned candymaking techniques. joscandies.com Lake Champlain Chocolates Toffee and Almond Stocking Stuffer Squares and Gift of Goodness. Celebrating a move toward organic and Fair for Life certification, this Vermont-based choco- latier has introduced two new holiday offerings. The Toffee and Almond Stocking Stuffer Squares are a variation on the popular Milk and Dark Stocking Stuffer Squares; each 2.8-ounce sleeve includes seven individu- ally wrapped milk chocolates, with festive red and green present-themed packaging. The Gift of Goodness contains a mix of indi- vidually wrapped dark chocolate Toffee & Almond Crunch Squares and Almond & Sea Salt Squares, packaged in a white box with icy blue lettering and snowflake imag- ery. All of the company's chocolates are kosher certified. lakechamplainchocolates.com Long Grove Confectionery Co. Milk Chocolate Dreidel, Creamy White Snowflake Pretzels, and Snowman Crispie Pops. For Hanukkah, the new Milk Chocolate Dreidel is 3 ounces of solid milk chocolate, shaped like its namesake spin- ning top. It comes packaged in a cellophane bag with a blue ribbon. The pretzels, a seasonal bulk chocolate item, are snowflake-shaped and frosted in white chocolate, then sprinkled with white non- pareils. Both the dreidels and pretzels are kosher certified by the Chicago Rabbinical Council. The pops, resembling chocolate bars with a snowman decoration, consist of crisped-rice treat centers, enrobed in milk chocolate and hand-decorated. longgrove.com FALL 2014 63