Marie’s Candies Welcomes Candy Makers from Across the Country

Retail Confectioners International’s Annual Convention and Industry Expo Visits West Liberty

Marie’s Candies in West Liberty was one of four locations chosen to tour this year for the Retail Confectioners International (RCI) Annual Convention and Industry Expo. The expo took place July 19-21 at the Great Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, with off-site confectionery tours running July 22-23. The first group of visitors were welcomed by one of the owners, Rebecca Craig, at 9:30AM. Over 150 confectioners from across the country visited their location on Thursday.

Marie’s Candies has been a part of RCI since 1978. This is their third time hosting this event, having last hosted in 2013 and previously in 1999. The purpose of RCI is to connect chocolate and candy makers to help grow their businesses and Marie’s Candies contributes a lot of their success to being a part of the organization.

The tour was an inside look of how Marie’s Candies operates and gave information on everything from their candy making process to packaging and display creation. Everyone in attendance got the chance to sample four of Marie’s Candies items including: Lime Bon-Bons, Irish Potatoes, Chocolate Covered Grapes and Peanut Butter Meltaways.

Emmie King (no relation), a second-generation owner of Nandy’s Candy in Jackson, MS, was one of the confectioners in attendance. She said that one of the highlights of her day happened just before leaving “I was about to go, but stopped to talk with Mr. King, probably my biggest highlight. He carefully answered my questions about his temperature-controlled rooms and invited me to go check theirs out after exposing what makes them work so well. We are currently working on a smaller version at our shop.”

The way candy makers share their secrets with each other on these tours is what makes them so special. There is a sense of community, not competition, and everyone walks away from a convention week having learned something new with a renewed passion for what they do.