Halloween | Good to scare!

The Halloween party rhymes with ghosts, zombies and scary stories, but above all, let’s face it, with (a lot of) candy! To whet your appetite, we present four local businesses that won’t just please the little ones with their horribly delicious sweets.

Iris Gagnon Paradise
The Press

Marco Campanozzi
The Press

squishy

For all ages and tastes

“Candy isn’t just for kids!” “says Sarah Segal on the phone. In 2014, noticing a “hole” in the market, the Montreal native founded the Squish brand. “I couldn’t find candies that I wanted to eat, European-style candies, with high quality ingredients, natural flavors and vegan options that go beyond the classic flavors you find everywhere like strawberry or raspberry. »

If Squish is famous for its vegan jujubes – tapioca syrup and fruit pectin will notably replace gelatin of animal origin – the brand is not only that. “It was important for us to have other options, we want to be a very inclusive brand. »

Squish collaborates with European factories, which manufacture the recipes developed by the company in an artisanal way. The wide range of sweets offered is therefore exclusive to Squish. “I like creativity and developing new flavors,” says the entrepreneur, who always offers thematic collections, such as the Halloween one with its calendar (still very popular, like the Advent one), its fruity verses or prickly skulls.

Before the pandemic, Squish had 20 stores across the country, all of which are closed today. While waiting to be able to physically welcome customers again, which M^me Segal fervently hopes the company continues to live online.

Kanju

Avalanche of candy

Why are Kandju gummies so fresh and tender to the bite? This is a question that Marie-Ève ​​Gladu, founder and co-owner, is often asked. “Everything starts from our parent company founded in 2006, Ludik Candy Designer, which sells in B2B [business to business], without intermediary. The candies that have just been produced arrive by truck and are put in buckets in the same week. We have big rotations, nothing remains on our shelves, ”she explains.

Launched in 2013, Kandju has since experienced quite phenomenal growth. In addition to its online store, the company has nine stores across Quebec, appreciated by customers for their “self-service” walls that allow you to stock up on gummies and bulk chocolates. During the pandemic, online sales have “exploded”, with sweets representing a significant source of comfort during this difficult period.

Jujubes are purchased in bulk from Canadian, American and Spanish factories, and then all blends are assembled in the company’s factory, located in Saint-Césaire. Thanks to its volume, the company can have its various suppliers produce unique shapes and fragrances. “We are very selective! The Kandju mixture is analysed, nothing is left to chance”, assures Marie-Ève ​​Gladu.

In addition to permanent perfumes – which can be purchased in buckets, jars, bags or glass bottles – Kandju offers themes each season. The Halloween one is full of choices, so the cute skewers to swallow all round!

The candy box

Objective: freshness

“If people are looking for a culprit for the extra pounds gained during the pandemic, it’s us! laughs Sarah Takforyan, founder and CEO of The Candy Box. First launched in 2016 with a monthly subscription offer, the company then took a turn by distributing its products at various retailers. “In 2020, during the pandemic, we started selling online again and we multiplied our sales by six, it was quite incredible! »

A fan of candy, the French-born had the idea of ​​starting her own business after being disappointed by the freshness of the sweets she found in Quebec. The candy box sources its supplies from suppliers located in the United States, Canada or Spain, and selects quality gummies with as much natural flavor as possible. “We receive the candy two weeks after the end of production and it takes us a week to bag it. We always work with small quantities, to ensure optimal freshness,” explains the entrepreneur, who only sells gluten-free sweets.

The company has the wind in its sails with 1,000 points of sale across the country and a recent presence in a network of small boutiques in the United States, not to mention the online store, which always offers a box of the month and themed fragrances for every occasion of the year. On the menu for Halloween: brains to swallow all round, sour spiders and chicken feet!

candy labs

Crazy about hard candy

Lin Geng and May He discovered hard candy while traveling in Europe. “We were really fascinated by the procedure and the making of these sweets,” says Mr. Geng. A big fan of sweets, the couple came back with an idea in mind: to open a store in Montreal, their hometown.

To learn all the secrets of hard candy making, a century-old artisan technique that originated in England, they traveled to Australia and finally realized their dream by opening CandyLabs in 2014. They are d are the only ones in Canada to manufacture sweets of this type; the curious can watch them at work in their boutique-laboratory on boulevard Monk. “We got a lot of exposure on YouTube. We receive a lot of visits from Americans, we are better known outside than in our city! “, remarks the co-owner.

Even if the know-how they perpetuate is old, their creations are very modern. They have given themselves the mission of creating cute and contemporary images: pokemons, animals, fruits, rainbows… “Children always ask us how we do to fit animal faces into candies” , he says, laughing.

The vast majority of flavors used are natural, and the entrepreneur says he has developed a special technique to keep the candies crisp when tasting. In addition to the permanent collection – around a hundred flavors – CandyLabs offers thematic collections, such as the Halloween collection adorned with a pumpkin or a scary eye.