Marie’s Candies in West Liberty was one of four locations chosen to tour this year for the recent Retail Confectioners International Annual Convention and Industry Expo.
The expo took place July 19 to 21 at the Great Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, with off-site confectionery tours running July 22 to 23.
During the July 22 stop, the first group of visitors were welcomed by one of the Marie’s Candies owners, Rebecca Craig. More than 150 confectioners from across the country visited the West Liberty location.
Marie’s Candies has been a part of RCI since 1978. This is their third time hosting this event, having last hosted in 2013 and previously in 1999.
The purpose of RCI is to connect chocolate and candy makers to help grow their businesses and “Marie’s Candies contributes a lot of their success to being a part of the organization,” representatives said in a release.
The tour featured an inside look of how Marie’s Candies operates and provided information on everything from their candy making process to packaging and display creation.
Everyone in attendance had the chance to sample four of Marie’s Candies items, including: Lime Bon-Bons, Irish Potatoes, Chocolate-Covered Grapes and Peanut Butter Meltaways.
Emmie King (no relation to Marie’s Candies owners) is a second-generation owner of Nandy’s Candy in Jackson, Miss. and was one of the confectioners in attendance. She said that one of the highlights of her day happened just before leaving.
“I was about to go, but stopped to talk with Mr. (Jay) King, probably my biggest highlight. He carefully answered my questions about his temperature-controlled rooms and invited me to go check theirs out after exposing what makes them work so well. We are currently working on a smaller version at our shop.”
The way candy makers share their secrets with each other on these tours is what makes them so special.
“There is a sense of community, not competition, and everyone walks away from a convention week having learned something new with a renewed passion for what they do,” Marie’s Candies representatives said.