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Women-Owned Confectionery Brands to Watch

Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson patented the home ice cream maker in 1843. In 1885, Agnes B. Marshall took the idea of ice cream one step further and made ice cream “craft” before its time, with unique ingredients, shapes – even forecasting a cone and instant ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Ruth Graves was the mastermind behind the iconic dessert, the chocolate chip cookie. For decades pioneering women have shaped the confectionery and culinary industry. Nowadays women owned business have potential to rake in serious dough (pun intended). According to You.gov, the customer base for women-owned business is more affluent than most, with 22% earning more than 100K per year. The survey also found that younger customers are more likely to buy women owned, with 55% being either Millennial or Gen Z. Sounds like it’s time to identify the women owned brands on your shelves, if you haven’t already.

Read on to learn about some of our favorite

Looks like the days of short commutes from the bed to the computer and dressing for meetings only from the waist up might be numbered. Corporate giant Google just re-opened its offices to a limited amount of employees, with plans to have all employees back to the office by autumn, according to the New York Times. Other major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook are following suit, with planned Fall 2021 office returns, according to USA Today. While in some ways a return to the office will be “business as usual” there are some areas where the “new order” left by the pandemic will leave its mark – particularly in the break room.

Prior to 2020, free snacks had become a popular business perk, and one way smaller businesses could compete with the larger corporations for talent, according to The Balance Small Business. As no one wants mobs of hangry employees, we don’t see free office snacks going away anytime soon. But as major grocery chains are changing the look

In today’s snacking climate you truly can have it all. Rich luxury AND sticking to that resolution.

The secret – bite sized indulgences.

Bite-size snacks delivering BIG on flavor and indulgence are, in fact, one of the top food trends right now (Food Business News).

There are many ways to get in on the bite size indulgent snack game.

In a world of ever-changing consumer habits, snack selection has remained constant. Snacking is still spontaneous with 72% of consumers not planning their snacks, instead simply grabbing as needed (National Confectioners Association). For one-third of these consumers, the impulse section is part of the snacking experience (National Confectioners Association).  Even as impulse sections evolve beyond traditional cashiered lanes to include self-serve checkouts, self-serve corrals, and grab-and-go sections, must-have items are emerging, regardless of format.  Check out these tips for the must-haves to create an on-point point of sale.

When on vacation, customers want to immerse themselves in what makes their travel destination unique, whether it be the ocean, forest, wetlands, or city skylines. But they can’t spend all their time outdoors, so lure them inside by sprinkling confection versions of the local sights in your confection selection.