As Central Market's candy buyer part of my job is traveling around the world looking for the newest and best products to bring back to Central Market stores. Recently I visited Paris, France and Cologne, Germany. This week I'm in Chicago at the All Candy Expo, the largest US trade show for the candy industry.  

Here's a sneak peak at some of the products I've seen at the show:

• "Dog Food" flavored Jelly Beans (in the BeanBoozled line) from Jelly Belly. Sounds weird and they are weird. Truly weird.
• Valor "Taza to Go" Ready-to-Drink Drinking Chocolate. Family owned Valor Chocolates from Villajoyosa, Spain has a winner with this rich, thick and smooth dark drinking chocolate. Just pour in a cup and heat in the microwave. We carry their chocolate bars which are fantastic too. 
• "Man Bait" Bacon flavored Lollypops from Das Foods. Imagine smoky salty bacon bits mixed into a maple-y-sweet and savory lollypop. It sounds odd but they are really, really good.

Believe it or not, on my show agenda is putting the final touches on the candy assortment Central Market will be featuring for Halloween and Christmas (crazy, right!). We plan that far out in order to secure the best items for our customers! As a matter of fact I am already working with suppliers on Valentine's Day and Easter 2010 items. It takes a lot of planning and hard work but the reward is when we can delight our customers with the best products that aren't found anywhere else. We call that "sweet success".