Ordering Wholesale Bulk Candies for Your Candy Store

If you operate a candy store or are planning on opening a candy store, chances are high that you’re in the market for wholesale bulk candies. But how do you get started? Where do you begin?

Below are several of the most popular kinds of bulk candies you can find at wholesale prices. Consider your candy store and the kinds of customers you expect to do business with as you select the best candies for your business.

Wrapped and Unwrapped Candies

When ordering wholesale bulk candies for your candy store, you’ll find that wrapped candies and unwrapped candies offer the widest variety of selections. You can find these candies in traditional popular types like gumballs, Jolly Ranchers, Skittles, M&Ms, and Jawbreakers, or more novelty or specialty types like saltwater taffy.

You have a variety of choices when it comes to displaying your bulk wrapped and unwrapped candies. Colored acrylic bins and clear plastic containers positioned on wire display racks throughout your store or on your countertop are convenient ways to display your candy for your customers. You can even situate the containers as stand-alone countertop displays without the racks.

Keep in mind that if you’re display bulk unwrapped candies, you need a little extra protection to keep them fresh and safe from debris. Make sure you look at containers with lids as well as pair aluminum or plastic scoops with the displays.

Gourmet Candies

Some children do enjoy candies like chocolate-covered peanuts and pretzels, but if your store does most of its business with a mature customer base, gourmet candies are definitely the way to go. Chocolate-covered coffee and espresso beans, for example, aren’t the best choices for kids; many adults, however, love them!

You can display your bulk wholesale gourmet candies in many of the same ways you’d display more traditional candies; however, because these candies are gourmet, you might want to consider trading the plastic containers in for glass jars, and – depending on the style of your store – switching wire display racks for stylish wooden baskets and shelves.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays

Is your store just starting out? Or, do you not have enough time to create your own candy displays? Maybe you should think about pre-filled candy displays.

Pre-filled candy displays are available stocked with a wide variety of candies and styles perfect for every kind of business. Consider these popular pre-filled candy display options:

• Gumball Machines: Gumball machines are classic pre-filled candy displays and ideal for every business from convenience stores and grocery stores to gift shops and bookstores; naturally, they’re perfect for candy stores! You can find these machines designed to stand on your floor or sit on your countertop, and they’re available with as few as one head and as many as eight heads. Gumball machines are also available in a wide variety of styles. For example, you can find them in fun designs like rocket ships and with clear stands so your customers can see their gumballs whizzing down to meet them!

• Lollipop Displays: Lollipop displays generally come in “tree” designs for floor displays or plastic or cardboard containers for countertop displays. You can find these displays pre-filled with an assortment of lollipops or suckers, and once they’re empty you can refill them with new suckers or reuse the containers for an entirely different purpose.

• Wall, Floor, and Countertop Displays: You can find pre-filled candy displays made of plastic containers situated on wire display racks or wooden baskets situated on wooden trees or shelves and designed to sit on your store’s floor, hang on a wall, or sit on a countertop. Note that you can also find pre-filled candy floor displays large enough to act as entire aisles in your store.

Hey, Store Owners: Candy Isn’t Just for Kids Anymore

Because candy is so popular, a number of retail businesses such as convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores include candy displays on their countertops or on display racks situated throughout their stores. Even establishments that aren’t generally in the business of selling food products, like hotels, bookstores, and gift shops, will create candy displays to offer customers add-on merchandise as they’re shopping or checking out.

Most of these establishments – especially gas stations, convenience stores, and grocery stores – sell mainstream candies like Atomic Fireballs, Good & Plenty, Skittles, Jolly Ranchers, and Mike & Ike. Chances are, you’ve never been to one of these kinds of stores and not seen some kind of candy display that included M&Ms, Laffy Taffy, Sprees, or Runts. This is due to the wide variety of customers these businesses deal with on a daily basis. These kinds of candies generally appeal to the masses.

While these common candies certainly have something to offer (they wouldn’t be so popular if they didn’t, after all), sometimes businesses cater to customers who aren’t fans of candies like Tootsie Rolls, Lemonheads, and Bit-O-Honey. Businesses that attract customers with more mature tastes in candy can still benefit from having candy displays; they just need to use candies that appeal more to these kinds of customers. Such candies include gourmet chocolates.

Consider Gourmet Chocolates

European-style gourmet chocolates are excellent additions to your store’s gourmet candy display. These candies with their fancy wrappers and wide variety of types appeal to many customers. You can find milk chocolate-covered European-style gourmet candies like covered raisins, dried cherries, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts, and almonds, as well as other kinds of chocolate candies like pretzel twists, malted milk balls, coffee beans, espresso beans, and caramel corn.

Another gourmet candy to consider is rich gourmet chocolate. You can find a wide variety of rich, gourmet chocolate candies including Mint Meltaways and Peanut Butter Meltaways, Coconut Haystacks, Vanilla Caramels, and Peanut Butter Cups. For customers who enjoy chocolate-covered nuts, consider Rocky Road Clusters, Peanut Caramel Patties, Cashew Caramel Patties, Pecan Caramel Patties, and Toffee with Almonds. Also keep in mind that you can find sugar-free versions of many rich gourmet chocolate candies, too.

Displaying Gourmet Chocolates

You can display gourmet candies much the same ways as you can display other kinds of candies. You can create countertop displays for your gourmet chocolates, or you can use display racks to hold the candy containers and situate the displays throughout your store.

Acrylic or plastic containers are perfect for storing and displaying just about any kind of candy or sweet treat, and gourmet candies are no different in that respect. Of course, given that these candies are gourmet you might want to forgo colored or clear plastic containers and use glass candy containers instead. Glass candy jars provide a look of elegance that’s perfect for displaying gourmet chocolates. Regardless of the kind of containers you choose for your candy display, make sure your jars have lids if they’re going to hold unwrapped candies.