Halloween might have kicked off our cravings, but candy season is still in full swing. The pumpkin-shaped chocolates simply transform into tree-shaped ones, and chocolate kisses make their way into cookie batter. The question is, do you know how to ensure that you’re only purchasing and gifting the freshest chocolates on the market? Answer: head straight to the source.
Why factory direct chocolate is best
Fresh-from-the-factory candy is a game changer. Even at a retail outlet with high turnover, the chocolate you buy at, say, the grocery store has taken a few weeks to get to its destination, having spent days or weeks sitting in distribution centers and stock rooms. When you compare that to a box shipped straight to your door from the factory floor, well, there’s no comparison at all to be made.
Hershey maintains a special section of its website dedicated to Direct From the Factory products, offering a limited supply of these premium treats at regular intervals throughout the year. Although currently sold out, the most recent offering was a whole case of ultra-fresh Reese’s Cups; the box contained 2.5 pounds of chocolate, or 72 Reese’s Cups for $29.99. You can sign up to be alerted via email when the next factory fresh box is available. The website is also offering 25% off on all purchases from the site for Cyber Monday.
Statista recently reported that chocolate sales in the four weeks ending December 26, 2021 came out to just over $2 billion. That’s an 11% growth over the previous year and almost double the growth from 2019 to 2020. Statista also notes that 48 million Americans ate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in 2020. How many of those consumers have ever had the joy of eating a truly fresh one?
Just buying straight from the Hershey’s online store, or your chosen candy brand’s website, could be the simplest step of preparing your holiday treats. Or maybe there’s a specific variety of candy you can’t always find at the store (looking at you, Hershey’s Zero Sugar Chocolate with Almonds). Whatever the case, you might just be able to taste the difference.