la.foodblogging

In honor of the opening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this weekend, I wanted to go on a tour of a candy factory (something I’ve only done one other time … the same year the first adaptation of the book came out). Instead I did something equally fun and sweet. I toured the Candy Warehouse in Irwindale.

I know, it’s just a warehouse, a place where they store stuff. How fun could that be? Their variety was amazing. As a fan of the show Unwrapped, this was just another version of watching assembly lines of sweets except there was gobs more variety.

I arrived a little before noon. Chris, the President, showed me around the place. Being Friday in the heat of summer, the place was very quiet, as they don’t ship on Fridays to avoid the packages baking over the weekend. I was afraid the warehouse would be a huge aniseptic space with nothing more than generic cardboard boxes stacked to the ceiling. Instead the place had shelves and shelves of product just sitting there in it’s gloroius full color packaging. Traveling the aisle you could tell just by the smell what section you were in. The chocolate area smelled like vanilla and chocolate. The gummies smelled fruity. The mints smelled, well, minty. The snozzberries taste like snozzberries …oops, sorry.

There was stuff I’d never seen before, from novelty molded NASCARs to bizarre novelty items like ear wax candy. Of course what else would I talk about with a true candy magnate than candy. You know, which is your favorite: Trolli Gummi Bears or Haribo Gummi Bears.

I learned a lot about the bulk candy business, too. There are lots more reasons to buy candy than just eating it yourself and handing it out at Halloween. Business purchase large amounts as giveaways at trade shows (oddly enough, often choosing it based on how the color goes with their logo), weddings and showers are huge business as well as small retailers looking to supplement the ordinary candy products on the market. Of course there are plenty of people who just call and order candy for themselves or as gifts. My favorite items that they carry are little milk can shaped tins filled with various coffee-flavored Chupa Chups, barley sugar lollipops and they’re one of the few places you can find Clark’s Teaberry Gum.

What was especially cool was just the fact that such an operation exists. Chris started out in ‘98 selling bulk gumballs on the internet and now sells thousands of kinds of candy. They were smaller than I expected, based on the huge inventory they show on their site, but I guess that’s because of their efficiency. Since they’re based in Los Angeles, sources from many local candy companies such as Very Special Chocolates (makers of liquor filled chocolates), Ben Meyerson (maker of Christopher’s Big Cherry), Adams-Brooks (makers of Coffee Rio, Cup-O-Gold and classic swirl lollipops), and the Los Angeles based company that makes all of Trader Joe’s chocolate covered nuts (I can’t remember the name!). They also have some great nostalgia items that I treasure from my childhood like wax lips, candy sticks, candy buttons, Gold Mine gum, Bun Bars, GooGoo Clusters, Zotz and of course, Pez.

Two hours later Chris walked me to my car with a HUGE box of samples (yes, I can be bought for a box of candy) for me to try, so keep an eye here on the candy blog for more great new finds. Unfortunately, they were out of Wonka bars.

By cybele (see more of her posts). You can find more of cybele's writing all about candy at her own website Candyblog.net