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Showing posts with label Smarties Candy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smarties Candy. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Life gets REALLY hectic sometimes and that's been the story over here. From hopping around to doctor appointments, to family trips, to heading back to school, we've been on the move non-stop and I do apologize for leaving you hanging.

I finally have some...


Winning the Capezio and Wisharoo Park prize pack is:



And winning the Smarties Prize Pack is:



Congrats!

The winners have been contacted and have 48 hours to claim their prizes before I randomly select another winner or winners.

**Also, I'll be trying out Rafflecopter for my next giveaway to see how I like it. If you have any tips/tricks/feedback for using it please do share. 

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Winners! ~ Sorry For The Delay

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

While being a Smarties Ambassador for the month of August, I've had the distinct privilege of sampling some different varieties of candy with my family. It truly has been fun for all of us since we love candy around here. :)

The day our box of candy arrived, I tweeted:

 and my 4 year old is singing "the big rock candy mountain". :) 

It was such an adorable reaction, if you ask me. And yes, I did feel like we were sent a piece of the "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Mmmmmmm. What would you say to receiving a shipment like this?


 Of course, we received the classic Smarties candies. These are something I have such a weakness for. It's something I crave and I don't have to worry so much about the calories when I indulge this particular craving. If you ever need a little "sweet fix", this is your answer. {Psst. There are only 25 calories in a roll with zero fat!}



The Theatre Box Smarties haven't been cracked into yet. I'm thinking we'll have to share these the next time we have a family movie night. Nothing goes better with a movie than a little something sweet, if you ask me. 


Hello, Mega Smarties!! These rolls are humongous and just as tasty as they look. While I'm a candy lover, I can't polish off a roll of these in one sitting.  No worries, though. I keep a roll on the kitchen counter and visit for a tablet or two throughout my day. They taste just as good as the original, they're just MUCH bigger.  


Smarties In A Pouch are the perfect answer to a request from my kiddos for some candy. In fact, Eliana {who is 22 months old} gets one of these pouches if her 4 year old brother gets a roll. I'll even give her just one of the three tablets in the pouch after she uses her potty seat and she is in 7th heaven with it. {She never wants to pop it in her mouth and chew it. Instead, she'd rather hold it in her hand and take tiny nibbles.}


Smarties Candy Money tastes exactly like the original candy tablets. The big difference here is that these tablets are larger and have money values stamped onto the face of them. These offer a fun way to encourage number recognition with your little one while satisfying a sweet tooth. Alex and I will often talk about how much money he has and which coins are worth the most, etc. 


Seeing Smarties Double Lollies mixed in with our review candy brought back a ton of memories for me from my childhood. I remember buying, eating, and loving these lolly pops. Now, I get to share them with my family and Alex may be one of their biggest fans.


Are you familiar with Tropical Smarties? I wasn't at all familiar with them until they arrived here. After trying a roll, I'm happy to report that I'm still a big fan of Smarties. The tropical flavors are different from the original flavors but they are really, really delicious. If you're at all a fan of tropical flavored candy, this is the way to go.


X-Treme Sour Smarties are the final flavor I received for review. I didn't know how I would feel about these as I'm not a huge fan of sour candies. The sour flavor is definitely there but the candy is still "Oh my Gosh" good. I love these and I'm considering sharing them with the rest of my family. ;)

Finally, if you remember my recent interview post, I have some fun information to add. The VP of Sales and Marketing answered some of the questions aside from my interview and I have some of his answers for you to read and enjoy.


1.  Who decided to make them in rolls instead of loose?
That decision was made by our founder, Edward Dee.  By putting them into twist-wrapped rolls, it was easier to package in different bags, boxes and jars, without leaving any powdery residue from the ingredients. 
2.  Do you have any new flavors/packs coming out?
Yes, we do!  Stay tuned, and keep checking our website and social media networks.  Unfortunately, we cannot release that information at this time.  Announcements will be made online as soon as new offerings are released.
3. What are his future plans for the company?  What does the next “plateau” look like?
While we share a distribution on a national level in most candy outlets, I am seeking new avenues for candy distribution.  Some examples would be hardware stores, shoe stores, stadiums, restaurants, etc.  With the help of the third generation, I hope to find some candy brands with nostalgic value that become available to purchase.  This would be a great Smarties link to offer our customers.  With the knowledge that the younger generation has for computers and social media, I am sure they will come up with many new ways to take the core business and expand into areas that we haven't even begun to imagine.
4. What is your favorite recipe to use Smarties in?
Crunched-up Smarties over ice cream is delicious.
5. Did you ever consider or try making a sugar free version of Smarties?  Have you considered using stevia?
It was many years ago that we manufactured a sugar-free variation of Smarties.  Unfortunately, the ingredients, as would be with Stevia, are far too expensive to produce our candy and remain in the non-chocolate arena in stores.  As a matter of fact, the cost to produce such dextrose substitutes is higher than the big, three chocolate manufacturers charge.  Our customers--retailers and wholesaler--will not pay that kind of money for Smarties.
6.  Does Smarties donate to charity?
Yes.  We recently had to limit charitable donations ever since one very nice person thanked me (online), personally, for helping with their charitable function.  Because of the posting, I receive an abundance of requests, daily.  I like to help as much as I can but, like many companies, donations are budgeted.  I have limited our donations to our local area and try to affiliate with schools by helping teachers with reward programs, positive reinforcement, mathematics, and fundraisers.


AND NOW FOR...

The Giveaway!!{NOW CLOSED}

One lucky winner will receive their own assortment of Smarties Candy!!! {My candy addiction will now be shared with one of you.}

To enter:

Please visit the Smarties website and tell me one, specific thing you learned, enjoyed, or would like to try. {please include your email address for your entry to count}

For additional entries:


    • *For 5 Extra Entries, submit your video for the Duckle Dance Sweepstakes {include a link to your video in the gallery}. 
    • *For 2 Extra Entries* *Like* Coffee with the Mrs. on Facebook. {Comment with 2 separate comments including yoru facebook name for credit}
    • Grab my button for your sidebar. 
    • Subscribe to my blog by e-mail through feedburner {the coffee cup at the top of the right sidebar with the orange rss symbol. comment with the e-mail address you subscribed with}
    • Follow me on Twitter @TheMrsC (comment with your twitter name)
    • Tweet about this giveaway.  If you want, you can say “CoffeeWithTheMrs.com is giving away a prize pack of @smarties and I want to #win!” {Just make sure to link to my blog or the giveaway and @Smarties}.  {comment with a link to your tweet}
                                      • **TWICE daily retweets are available for extra entries. Leave a comment with a link to your daily tweet{s}
Please leave a separate comment for each entry. This giveaway will run until September 13th at 11:59pm ET. The winner will be selected by using random.org and will be contacted and announced on or around September 14th. If the prize is not claimed within 48 hours of initial contact, I will randomly select another winner. Void where prohibited. No 
purchase necessary. Open to US.

**That's right. #IamASmartie!! This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias. In this post I share my thoughts and opinions of the item mentioned. Others may have a different experience or opinion.





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Smarties Win Smarties! {Review and Giveaway} #IamASmartie

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Monday, August 29, 2011


If you take the time to visit the Smarties website, you'll find out a lot about the company's history and also other little tidbits of information that can be fun trivia to learn. For example, do you know what flavor each different color tablet is? Here's a hint:


White = Orange/Cream
Yellow = Pineapple
Pink = Cherry
Green = Strawberry
Purple = Grape
Orange = Orange


Anyway, I wanted to get information from Sarah and Liz Dee at Smarties on things I didn't see on the website. I feel honored to have had a Skype interview with them. I asked 3 questions and received thoughtful and honest answers. {Psst...hop over and give Ellen a visit as well for even more questions/answers.}

Question #1: In the YouTube video interview I posted, Eddie Dee spoke of the family continuing to take the business to the next plateau. What does the "next plateau" look like for the generations who currently run the company?

Answer: It's really important to them that they stay true to their roots, stay competitively priced, and continue to offer customers a consistent and quality product. Smarties is a brand unto itself, it isn't owned by a bigger corporation. Given that it's an anomaly in the business world, the current generations want to see the company continuing to thrive by breathing fresh life into the business.

Part of the way they're working to stay true to their roots is by continuing to make everything in their own factories. They won't outsource work in order to save money which is great but it makes it difficult to stay competitively priced. However, they choose this because of YOU, the customer. Smarties is a great nostalgia candy and they want you to have what you remember and love exactly the way it was when you started enjoying the candy tablets.

Also, they want YOU to know that the company is alive and well and want to hear from YOU. Whether you choose to email, reach out to them on twitter, or post something on their facebook wall, they want to know your thoughts, ideas, concerns, etc.

Question #2: How does Smarties approach the new "health culture" with a candy product? {also included talk of being "green" with this question}

Answer: The wonderful thing about Smarties is that they never have to pretend they're making anything other than a fun treat to enjoy. Candy is what it is. The Smarties brand is very health conscious, though. This was the reasoning behind choosing pastel colors for the candies. When Smarties were first created, its makers didn't want to include an overload of dyes as they felt it took away from the taste of the candy. Today, Smarties is proud to say their candy isn't smothered by the dyes parents are concerned about. The Smarties owners are also aware of natural dyes on the horizon but for now those are surrounded by legislation that make it difficult and expensive for them to incorporate in their candies.

As for using packaging made from recycled items, Smarties has a certain demand of its buyers and sellers. Currently, the packaging we all remember and love is what is in demand. Using a different type of packaging would also increase the price of the product and that would effect them negatively from both the people who buy the candy and the stores who sell it. This is something that may change with time, but for now they want to remain consistent in price and quality for their customers.

Question #3: In Your F.A.Q. you talk about working mostly with the charities in the New Jersey area {close to home for the factory}. Are there any charities in particular that you prefer to partner with?

Answer: There currently isn't one, big charity that they partner with but that's something that they want to look into for the future. They currently enjoy working with local schools in support of kids eating and aspiring to be "Smarties". Some examples of fun campaigns they've worked on are "Smarties vote" and "Smarties read".

Conclusion:

Liz and Sarah were sweet and wonderful to talk with. They stated in our chat that Smarties is a family run company with a family feel for all who work there whether they're related or not. I can say after a short talk with them, even I felt like I was included in that family right away and had my brand loyalty reaffirmed by that time with them. I still want to go make candy with them {lol Can you blame me?} but if that never happens, I know that this small blog, its readers, and every Smarties fan matters to them. Knowing their heart and loyalty to the people who love Smarties is more than just "sweet talk" is enough to keep me buying and recommending the brand for years and years to come.

**MAKE SURE TO STAY TUNED FOR A GIVEAWAY FROM SMARTIES TO YOU!**



*Photo credit* All pictures of Smarties came to me via Jenn's Pinterest wall with permission to use them in this post.

**That's right. #IamASmartie!! This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias. In this post I share my thoughts and opinions of the item mentioned. Others may have a different experience or opinion.

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Who's A Smartie Now? {An Interview With Smarties} #IamASmartie

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Monday, August 22, 2011



I'll bet when you see the yummy rolls of Smarties candy in the store, you never stop to think about where it all began for that brand. I know I sure didn't give it much thought. All I know is I love candy and the brands I love the best are brands that have been around for a long while.

I've recently been chatting with like-minded, candy loving bloggers about our likes and dislikes in candy land. We even shared our favorites from childhood. In that conversation, I met a lovely lady by the name of Liz and she knew a lot about Smarties. It turns out, she's a 5th generation candy maker who works in her family owned business, Ce De Candy, Inc. where Smarties are made.

Could you imagine a job like that? {I asked her to let me come make candy with her sometime.}


Anyway, I found it interesting that Smarties Candy Company is a family owned and run business and wanted to learn more about them.What I discovered was a true, "American Dream" story that has yet to see an end.

Smarties found their start from Ce De Candy, Inc. back in 1949. Edward Dee and his family moved to New Jersey from England and he partnered with two other men to get this company off the ground. He only had 2 machines and a rented space to work with but his inventiveness spurred him on and Smarties were born.  As the business continued to grow, it continued to move to better locations for operation. Today, you'll find Smarties Candy made in Union, New Jersey {where it's been since 1967} with another factory, Ce De Candy Ltd., located in Newmarket, Ontario. There are currently three generations of the Dee family working in the New Jersey factory and Eddie Dee stops in the office nearly every day.

Speaking of Eddie Dee, I found this video of him on the Smarties YouTube page and just had to share it with you. Here, he shares a bit about his company and he couldn't be any more adorable.


There are a few different ways to enjoy Smarties Candy and some of them may even surprise you. I can't say I've tried each of the different flavors and varieties yet but I can say that they all sound so delicious. And since I'm pregnant, I think I've just talked myself into enjoying a roll of Mega Smarties or even Theater Box Smarties. Yum!

Now that you have Smarties on the brain, go pick some up and let me know which is your favorite color in your roll. My favorite is white. Mmmmmmm.



Get social with Smarties on Facebook and Twitter!

**That's right. #IamASmartie!! This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias. In this post I share my thoughts and opinions of the item mentioned. Others may have a different experience or opinion.

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So, Where Did Smarties Begin? #IAmASmartie

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