Candyfreak
By Steve Almond
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Steve Almond takes a hilarious, sugar-high tour through America’s forgotten candy companies in Candyfreak: A Mouthwatering Odyssey That Picks up Where Willy Wonka Left Off.
Big Hunks, Abba-Zabbas, Goo Goo Clusters, Valomilks, Twin Bings, Idaho Spuds, and more… Steve Almond takes a hilarious, sugar-high tour through America’s forgotten candy companies in Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. From Boston (where Necco manufactures Mary Janes, Clark Bars, and Necco Wafers) to Boise, Idaho (where the Idaho Candy Company still makes their famous Idaho Spud, and Cherry Cocktails, just like they
did over 100 years ago), and beyond, Almond visits companies—interviewing
candy makers, touring factories—that still feel passionate about the
fine art of candy making. Part social history and part stand-up comedy, Candyfreak
offers us the bittersweet story of how Almond grew up on candy and how, for
better or worse, candy has grown up, too.
I Want Candy: 10 Tasty Tidbits from Candyfreak
- Chocolate did not exist in candy bar form until the 20th century.
- The veterans of WWI were largely responsible for the candy bar boom between the World Wars.
- In the last century there have been some 100,000 brands of candy bars introduced in this country.
- Ray Broekel, the foremost candy bar expert in the world, has 20,000 candy bar wrappers in his basement.
- The Big Three candy companies (Hershey’s, Mars, and Nestlé) control about 90% of the candy racks in supermarkets.
- Manufacturers have to pay a “rack fee” to place their candy bars in the racks of large chains, such as Wal-Mart.
- At the peak of the confectionary boom, there were some 6,000 candy companies in America. Industry experts expect that number to shrink to 150 in the next few years.
- Many of the best candy bars introduced in the past 20 years—including the Caravelle, Hershey’s Cookies ’n Mint, and Kit Kat Dark—no longer exist, for a variety of reasons.
- The Aztecs regarded the cocoa bean as a gift from the gods.
- The author purchased a case of Kit Kat Dark Chocolate Candy Bars last summer and stashed them in an undisclosed warehouse location outside Boston.
