While the Fourth of July serves as a great opportunity to relax and reflect, there’s another holiday this week Associate Editor Alyse Thompson is just as excited for — World Chocolate Day, set for July 7. 

As former managing editor of Candy Industry Magazine, Crystal Lindell has been working on sister publication Food Engineering for the last couple years, hoping and praying she would eventually get back to the best job in the world. And now, finally, here she is — the new editor of Candy Industry. 

Why is Editor-in-Chief Bernie Pacyniak going down this memory lane? Pacyniak, who served Candy Industry Magazine for 17 years, is retiring June 29.

Summer doesn’t officially begin for another week, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to start thinking about Halloween.

Editor-in-Chief Bernie Pacyniak recently learned about the efforts of Hope Ranch International, a faith-based organization serving needy and impoverished families, while having lunch with Patrick Murnane of Murnane Cos. A visit to the Montana-based ranch quickly followed.

At this year’s Annual Convention & Industry Expo, RCI’s focus is presenting retail candy makers and chocolatiers with ideas and inspiration that translate into actionable strategies for creating unique and memorable experiences for their customers.

This is Associate Editor Alyse Thompson's second Sweets & Snacks Expo, but it already feels like old hat. Getting around was a breeze, and she enjoyed catching up with manufacturers, suppliers, sales people and marketers she's gotten to know over the last couple years.

Those of us who work in and with the industry sometimes forget that the outside world doesn’t necessarily know what we know, particularly when it comes to chocolate.

American soldiers used chewing gum to quench thirst and reserve water supplies in World War I, but as its popularity spread through Europe, so did aversion to it. Among its detractors was Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Contributor Curtis Vreeland tells the story in an excerpt from "Candy Goes to War."

In February, Associate Editor Alyse Thompson visited Finca El Cacao, a 2,500-hectare cocoa plantation in Nicaragua owned and operated by Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. The company, eager to open up its supply chain and highlight its progress in the Central American country, brought Alyse and German journalists to the plantation to show them how they do things.