Spangler adds holiday flavor

Candy maker to dress up popular staples for Christmas

Spangler Candy Co. will offer limited edition holiday flavors in two of its most popular brands: New Dum Dums Holiday Pops and Peppermint Marshmallow Circus Peanuts.

BRYAN — Spangler Candy Co., which has long been a major producer of candy canes, will finally get into the Christmas spirit this year with respect to its Dum Dum lollipops and Circus Peanuts marshmallow candies.

After 107 years in business, the Williams County candy maker will dress up its two staple candies for the Christmas season by introducing eight new holiday flavors of Dum Dums pops, and peppermint flavored Circus Peanuts.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time in the history of Dum Dums that we’ve done a special holiday season-themed flavors. It is kind of a big deal for the brand,” said Evan Brock, brand manager for Dum Dums at Spangler Candy in Bryan.

“We thought long and hard about the right mix of flavors to come up with. We wanted to make sure we chose flavors we could do a good job of replicating in a hard candy format,” Mr. Brock added.

Every few years, Dum Dums adds a few new flavors to its lineup and removes a few. On occasion, it has put the choice of adding flavors to a vote by the public.

But the bulk of its production at this time of year is reserved for varieties of candy canes, and “branded” candy canes, that is, special-recipe treats produced for well-known candy or food chains such as Jelly Belly and Cinnabon.

Mr. Brock said earlier this year the company decided it wanted to add some variety to the traditional Dum Dum pop and produce holiday-themed Dum Dums that might make the candy a more likely candidate to go into Christmas stockings.

“[Dum Dums] are a top candy for Halloween. And we have a Valentine’s Day kit,” Mr. Brock said. “But we’ve never really tried to do something special for Christmas. Same with Circus Peanuts. They are really popular in the spring, but not at this time of year.”

Spangler product designers thought long and hard and came up with eight flavors that evoke the holiday season and could be competently replicated, Mr. Brock said.

They are: Hot Chocolate, Sugar Cookie, Green Apple Grinch, Merry Cherry, Sugar Plum, Apple Cider, Gingerbread, and Polar Punch.

Mr. Brock said there was no thought given to producing an egg-nog-flavored holiday lollipop.

“We wanted to create flavors that were really recognizable and that consumers would think are fun. ... But Dum Dums are a favorite of young kids and we needed to be sensitive to that so, no, no egg nog,” he said.

Still, “We’ve had a lot of fun doing this,” Mr. Brock added.

Spangler expects to have its holiday-themed Dum Dums and Circus Peanuts on retailer shelves this month in many locations and no later than Dec. 1.

Mr. Brock said the candy maker has a strong relationship with Walgreens drug stores and Dollar General stores and those retailers should be receiving shipments soon.

Contact Jon Chavez at:

jchavez@theblade.com

or 419-724-6128.