The Sunshine State

In May, I attended the Annual Conference for Catalog & Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) in Orlando, Florida. While I was looking forward to learning how other companies approach their marketing efforts, I was also excited for a mini-vacation and some SUNSHINE. Sharon & Scott were sweet to allow my husband to come along, so we stayed a few extra days and had a great trip together.

We were able to go to Disney World's Epcot Center and The Magic Kingdom thanks to a friend who now works at Coral Reef, the seafood restaurant in the park. After trying to squeeze in as many amusement rides as we could (Soarin' was my favorite), we had a nice dinner at our friend's restaurant, and she even seated us right next to the enormous aquarium filled with 85 different species of tropical fish. The food was great, and the dessert was even better. I ordered The Chocolate Wave, and as a very early birthday treat, they included a piece of edible chocolate with little drawings of fish and a "Happy Birthday" message written on it! It was served warm, with hot fudge drizzled on top and brandied cherries on the inside, adding some extra sweetness to the already rich chocolate. I'd like to think I have a second stomach just for dessert, so I ate every delicious bite. When you're the author of Chocolate Talk, you've got to do what you've got to do...

The Big Apple

Last weekend my family and I took a trip to New York City. It was the first time there for all of us, so we didn't quite know what to expect. That city is overwhelming; filled with people from all around the world, over 17,000 restaurants, 10,000 taxi cabs, amazing Broadway shows, endless shopping and enormous skyscrapers. I don't think one person could ever run out of things to do there.

After watching the Travel Channel's episode of the top 10 ice cream parlors across America, the famous Serendipity 3 was on the top of my list of places to visit in NYC...and I was not disappointed. I ordered the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, which tasted like chocolate milk, but better. My husband got the Forbidden Broadway Sundae, which he was kind enough to share with his chocolate-loving wife (as if he had a choice). Also on the menu was the world's most expensive sundae, the Golden Opulence Sundae. This lavish $1,000 sundae, which you have to order 48 hours in advance, is covered in edible gold and includes ingredients imported from all over the world. I didn't order it this time... maybe after I hit the jackpot on Hershey's instant lottery tickets!

Win With Hershey’s

We have 10,000 more reasons to love chocolate! The Hershey Company is now pairing its popular chocolate brands with instant lottery tickets. Available in select states, lottery players can try their luck at scratch-off games such as “Kisses & Cash” and “Hugs & Kisses,” for a chance to win up to $10,000. New Mexico offers the scratch-off that looks good enough to eat, titled “$10,000 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate.” The game’s ticket is a replica of  Hershey’s well-recognized, chocolate-brown and silver-foil wrappers. Plans are underway to develop additional lottery games from among Hershey’s 21 candy brands. The designs of the new tickets will use vivid colors and recognizable imagery of the brand’s packaging. There are even rumors that future Hershey-themed tickets might have a scratch-n-sniff feature. This sounds like a winning idea to me!

Fun Facts About the Kiss

• A Kiss is created by a machine that drops a specific amount of Hershey’s chocolate onto a moving steel belt and quickly cools in the Kiss shape.
• A popular theory on how the candy was named is that the sound it made while dropping onto the steel belt was that of a kiss.
• Every day, more than 80 million Kisses are created by Hershey’s factories in Pennsylvania, California and Virginia.
• In Hershey, Pennsylvania, the street lamps are shaped like Kisses.
• Approximately 95 Kisses equal to one pound of chocolate.
• To save foil for the war effort in 1942, Hershey’s halted the production of Kisses.
• To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Hershey’s Kisses Brand on July 7, 2007, the world’s largest Kiss was created in  Hershey, Pennsylvania. Wrapped in silver foil with a proportionally large plume, the Kiss weighed 30,540 pounds, more than twice the previous chocolate candy world record of 15,026 pounds.
• Another record was broken in 2003, when the longest consecutive string of Kisses measured more than 4 miles. The event took place to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Children’s Hospital.

For more fun facts about Kisses and related products, visit the Hershey’s website.

A Hershey’s Thanksgiving

In addition to the traditional Pumpkin Pie dessert every Thanksgiving, my mom always makes something to please the chocolate-lovers in our family…Mint Brownies! I recommend this recipe to anyone who is looking for something sweeter on Thanksgiving. If you’re like me and would rather buy pre-made brownie mix, skip Steps 1-3 and follow the directions on the box. Don’t forget to include your favorite Hershey’s ingredients!

Diane’s Mint Brownies

Ingredients for 24 Servings:

• 3 sticks plus 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 4 drops green food coloring
• 1 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13” x 9” baking pan.
2. Melt 2 sticks of butter in the microwave. Stir in granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs; Beat well. Add cocoa, flour and baking powder. Beat until well blended. Pour batter into the greased pan.
3. Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean.
4. Cool completely on wire rack.
5. Prepare the Mint Cream by combining powdered sugar, 1 stick of butter, water, mint extract and food coloring. Beat until smooth. Spread evenly on brownies. Cover & refrigerate until cold.
6. Prepare the Chocolate Glaze by melting together 6 tablespoons of butter and the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly & pour on top of the chilled Mint Cream. Cover & refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Hershey’s & Starbucks – A Sweet Partnership

For those of you who love something sweet with your coffee, you’ll be glad to know that our beloved chocolate company is teaming up with the world’s most recognized coffee corporation. Hershey’s and Starbucks announced an agreement in July to create and market a Starbucks-branded premium chocolate platform. Gerry Lopez, President of Starbucks Global Consumer Products Group, said, “Chocolate is the perfect complement to coffee and tea and has long been a part of the coffee-house experience. We are excited to bring premium chocolate inspired by Starbucks coffee and café flavors to Starbucks customers and chocolate lovers. Creating a new chocolate platform is another way for us to extend the Starbucks Experience outside of our stores and enhances the coffeehouse experience.”

Expert chocolate makers will develop products using the popular beverage and cafe flavors of Starbucks and combine them with the highest quality chocolate. Also thrown into the mix of the chocolate and coffee flavors will be fruits, nuts, herbs and spices. The delectable new chocolates will be available in a broad range of retail channels such as grocery, department and drug stores throughout the United States. Christopher J. Baldwin, Senior VP, President North American Commercial Group, The Hershey Company, states, “Hershey’s chocolate expertise, distribution and selling capabilities combined with the strength of the Starbucks brand will help transform the high-growth premium chocolate segment. Our product development is focused on value-added chocolate and coffee-based products that will provide consumers with a new experience and accelerate growth in this key segment.”

Be on the lookout for the new chocolate products late 2007 or early 2008. For more information on this sweet partnership, visit Hershey’s press release, When Coffee Dreams, It Dreams of Chocolate.

Taste Testing the New Stuff

Hershey has a new link on their website about chocolate with some great information for true chocolate lovers.  Everything from the history of chocolate, the healthy aspects of chocolate and pairing chocolate with wine and food.

Recently, The Hershey Company has been getting more involved into the specialty chocolate market, purchasing a San Francisco fine chocolate company.

This week at Carson, we have been taste testing Hershey's new Extra Dark chocolate line (my favorite is the ones with blueberries, cranberries and almonds) and Hershey has also introduced an artisan line of chocolates called Cacao Reserve.

So the next time you are in the grocery store or Walgreens ect. see what they have new in the Hershey family line of products.

History of the Chocolate

The cost of Cocoa is going up which may mean the cost of chocolate increasing is not far behind.  Here is an interesting recent article on Cocoa and how Hershey tries to handle the cost of this fluctuating commodity.

I am somewhat of a news fanatic, and in this world of 24 hour nonstop news feeds, staying current is never a problem.  One topic I receive “news alerts” about involves the chocolate trade and in particular The Hershey Company.  On our website we have information about the history of chocolate.  There is also much information available on the web about the evolution of The Hershey Company.

One book I would recommend to anyone who not only likes chocolate but also is interested in the story of how two of the largest companies in the world began is The Emperors of Chocolate .. Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars by Joël Glenn Brenner 

We have several copies at Carson Wrapped Hershey's, and I encourage all of our team members to read this book, because it is a wonderful glimpse into the world of Hershey and Mars. Want to know what “M&M’s stand for and how the letters connect these 2 fierce competitors?  Read the book and you will have the answer to a great trivia question on your next night out with friends.

Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties

By Daniel DeNoon - WebMD Medical News
Source: www.webmd.com/content/article/73/81921.htm

The Studies
Taubert's team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure--on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.

Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.

Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.

In the second study, Serafini's team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.

An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.

Chocolate for Blood Pressure: Darker Is Better
What is it about dark chocolate? The answer is plant phenols -- cocoa phenols, to be exact. These compounds are known to lower blood pressure.

Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. So if you're going to try this at home, remember: Darker is better.

Just remember to balance the calories. A 100-gram serving of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you ate that much raw apple you'd only take in 52 calories. But then, you'd miss out on the delicious blood pressure benefit.

A hint: Don't replace healthy foods with chocolate. Most people's diets have plenty of sweets. Switch those for some chocolate if you're going to try the truffle treatment.

Got high blood pressure? Try a truffle. Worried about heart disease? Buy a bon-bon.

It's the best medical news in ages. Studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate or milk chocolate -- is good for you.

Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure
Dark chocolate -- not white chocolate -- lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.

"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."

Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.