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Recent Hershey announced that due to the rising cost of milk and cocoa it is raising its prices again. This is the second time in a year now. This increase is said to raise wholesale prices about 13% on most of there products. This is on top of a 5% increase in April 2007. Energy and commodity prices are said to be the cause of the increases.
The increase in costs has gotten to such a point that there are even discussions on modifying the standards to lower cocoa butter contents to save costs. Currently the existing federal standard for chocolate says that chocolate in its purest state must contain between 50% and 60% cocoa butter. The proposal includes using a vegetable fat to supplement the product at a lower cost.
If you go to your local candy store you can see the price increases right on the shelf. Even chewing gum prices have gone up. Even the online wholesale candy business is tightening up. New competition constantly is competing for the top spots in the search engines. Many folks do not realize it but when they do a search online the results change from time to time. On line stores are constantly working to improve their sites to get better rankings by the search engines. It is a very challenging task but ultimately if done right the end results is the best choice for the consumer. This competition is also driving the search engine optimization costs upwards as the resources to do this work are very expensive and online market share is more competitive. There are only ten spots on page one and how many shoppers go past row number five?
With supply costs going up and a very competitive market with multiple suppliers it is very difficult to stay competitive in the wholesale candy business. Many suppliers are competing for the same market share with thinner margins. At CandyXpress we try to differentiate ourselves from the competition by not only offering very competitive pricing but providing friendly service and a broad selection of products. Relationship building is important as well as responsiveness to customer needs.
Our candy store offers a complete range of candy in many sizes and colors. Candy ranges from small bagged items for peg lines to large boxes and bags of 120 count or 300 count change makers. The standard 24 count and 36 count candy bars are always a favorite for all occasions and purposes. Chewing gum is also a great idea.
Online wholesale candy shopping is great for all sorts of consumers. The price value is great as they can shop at many stores for price and the convenience of point click and buy is wonderful. Many customer types enjoy online candy shopping with us including hospital gift shops, end use consumers who prefer to save about 50% on the cost of buying candy in the super markets to promotion companies doing anti smoking campaigns.
So while competition is tough wholesale candy sales are still there for the hard working that constantly try to add value for there customers in approving the overall customer experience.
