Lollipops- Sweet Treats with Purpose and Style
Lollipops are fun and also big business today for candy manufacturers around the world. Lollipops even have their own National Day closer to home on July 20th, so their popularity as a candy favourite for many celebrations is well recognized. They are available in many shapes and flavours, and have become a staple for our gift baskets at Edible Promotions Inc. Lollipops work hard for us to add colour to our gifts and they are great to attach to logo cards and messages for our clients.
The modern lollipop is said to be first created by George Smith from New Haven, Connecticut in 1908. He put candy on a stick to make it easier to eat for children, and then he named this treat after his favourite racing horse “Lollipop”. George continued producing lollipops in small batches and a few flavours until the 1930’s.
The first lollipop making machine produced only 40 lollipops per minute. This compares with today’s production of approximately 5900 lollipops per minute. The Racine Confectioners Machinery Company from Wisconsin started developing the machinery needed for larger production runs, and today it is estimated that 12 million lollipops are made per day and sales are close to 2.4 billion lollipops per year. That is a lot of candy on a stick! We specialize in making chocolate lollipops at Edible Promotions Inc. We are especially busy with production during the holiday season in November and December and at Easter. Many other treats besides our chocolates are also found on sticks, such as cake pops and pie pops. People just love to have their favourite treat on a stick .
Original lollipops had soft candy wrapped around the stick, but that changed to hard candy being formed into a variety of shapes like rings and spirals. Some include bubble gum or chocolate centers. Some also have spinning sticks or are used to scoop up powdered sugar candy. Some of the lollipops I saw in New Mexico, USA had bugs such as scorpions, spiders, crickets, ants and worms infused into them and are made by the “Hotlix” company. I purchased some for friends and family, but I’m not too sure how many were actually eaten.
Ingredients generally include water, sugar, corn syrup, flavourings , and malic or citric acid. First the sugar and corn syrup are heated , then the colours and flavours are added to the cooked mix. This mix is then added to a batch roller and pressed into forms. The stick is then inserted. Next they are cooled, wrapped and shipped to customers for all of us to enjoy. Colourful display boxes help give these treats the presentation they deserve and prevent them from breaking.
The World’s Largest Lollipop was made July 18, 2012 weighing 7,003 lbs standing 4 feet 8.75 inches in length and 3 feet 6 inches in width and 5 feet 11 inches tall. When the stick was added it was 12 feet tall. This massive lollipop was flavoured in chocolate and created by See’s Candies in California USA for a marketing presentation for the public. WOW, that sure is one big lollipop and it certainly got some attention. I wonder how many people got a taste of this chocolate flavoured presentation. This certainly was a lollipop for the Guiness Book of Records.
At Edible Promotions Inc. we often pair lollipops with a bag of mints or other hard candy and our customers enjoy handing them out with their cards as a special pop by gift. These treats work well in the hot summer months and they have a long shelf life which is of value to our customers who travel. My favourite shape is the spiral lollipop. It holds a special memory from summer days when I was a child. I remember buying a pack of 5 fruit flavoured lollipops at the grocery store on the weekend to share with my brothers and sisters. I would always try to pick the cherry or lime lollipop first.
Halloween treat bags are sure to find a selection of lollipops at the bottom of the bag. Chocolate bars, popcorn and chips always were eaten first, but we still enjoyed the lollipop treats for the next few months.
The next time you reach for a sweet treat on a stick , think about how lollipops changed the candy world to offer us so many shapes and flavours. Round or spiral, big or small, chocolate or cherry WE LOVE THEM ALL!
