Is there anything better than candy? Yes! More candy! And that’s exactly what a candy buffet is…although there’s a bit more to it than that!
A candy buffet isn’t just a load of candy thrown together. It’s actually a purposefully designed and elegant display of lots of candy that you can have at whatever big social event you’re arranging.
But creating a candy buffet is a lot more complicated than you might think, as there are lots of different factors to consider.
Nevertheless, the most important feature of your candy buffet is, yes, that’s right, the CANDY!!
So today, we’re going to be talking about the best candy to use for your candy buffets.
Then, later on, we’ll talk a bit more about the logistics that go with creating a candy buffet.
So, there’s no time to waste; your social event is only around the corner. So let’s get started.
Best Candy For Candy Buffet
Right, let’s start with the fun stuff.
Obviously, the most important factor is that the candy you choose for your buffet tastes delicious and goes down as a treat with your guests.
So it’s important you get this right.
However, you can’t just throw together your favorite candies because they might not work well together in the buffet.
And you can’t just throw any old favorite candy onto the buffet table.
So we’re looking for specific types of candy here.
Before we get into the details of what makes a candy great for being used on a candy buffet, take a look at the list of my top 5 favorite candies for buffets.
Feel free to take any of these candies from the list to use in your own buffet.
If not, hopefully, these candies will inspire some ideas of your own.
Bear in mind that all of the candies on this top 5 list can be purchased in abundance from Amazon.com.
I buy all of my candy from Amazon because they offer great accessibility to bulk buying at money-saving rates.
Amazon is also very fast when it comes to delivery. It’s part of the reason they’ve become so successful.
Now, without further ado, here is my top 8 list of the best candies for candy buffets.
Milk Bottles
These were my favorites as a kid.
I could eat tons and tons of them. There’s just something about the chewy powdery textures of milk bottles.
They taste great, they’re easy to buy in bulk, and they’re white, so they’ll go with pretty much any other colored candy.
- Milk
- Toffee
- Dusted
- Retro
- Loose
Chewy Cherries/Strawberries
Did I say milk bottles were my favorite? I lied. They were my second favorite, I’ve realized.
Chewy cherries and strawberries are so, so, so good. In fact, if I were to choose my number 1 on this list, I’d probably say it’s these.
So chewy, so tasty, and so fitting for a candy buffet.
- Cherry
- Jelly
- Retro
- Popular
- Loose
Jolly Ranchers Lollipops
Who doesn’t love lollipops?
Some might say they’re an essential type of candy to have in your candy buffet. Jolly Ranchers are one of my favorite candy lines produced by Hershey’s.
Whether it be their lollipops or their regular hard candy, they come in plenty of delicious flavors, including Orange, Green Apple, Blue Raspberry, Pineapple, Cherry, Peach, Watermelon, Grape, Strawberry, Fruit Punch, Lemon, Golden Pineapple, Mango, and Lime.
You can bet that Jolly Ranchers’ lollipops will be a flavorsome hit at your candy buffet.
- One-hundred 0.56-ounce JOLLY RANCHER Assorted Fruit Flavored Filled Pops in a bulk box
- Product Note: Exposure to heat or sunlight may lead to melting/damage of product. Hence customers are expected to be available during the product delivery
- Long-lasting, fruit flavored hard candy lollipops you can take with you on the go, to work, on snack breaks and back home again at the end of the day
- Fruit flavored candy mix is individually wrapped and packed in a bulk box for convenience and exceptional freshness to the last piece
- Perfect for pride month celebrations, birthday parties and anniversary dates
Lindt Chocolate Truffles
The most luxurious brand on the list is from the Swiss chocolate maker Lindt. Their chocolate truffles are renowned around the world.
Small chocolate balls, creamy and tasty beyond imagination, are wrapped in colorful packaging that indicates whatever flavor they may be.
Lindt are master chocolate makers and have been leading the way since their founding in 1845.
If you want a candy that is going to stun your guests with excitement, Lindt’s Chocolate Truffles are the ones to stock up on.
- 50.8 oz., 120 Count of Lindt LINDOR Milk Chocolate Truffles, Valentines Day Candy
- Features a delicate milk chocolate shell that envelops an irresistibly smooth milk truffle filling
- Lindt LINDOR chocolate truffles are the perfect self-indulgence, and make thoughtful gifts for all of your valentines, including friends, coworkers, teachers and that special someone
- Individually wrapped milk chocolate candy truffles in a large box are perfect for sharing and stocking up
- Kosher chocolate made with premium, high quality ingredients that make Lindt chocolate exceptional
Hershey’s Kisses
We finish with another chocolate candy, and it is Hershey’s Kisses.
They’re bite-size delights wrapped in various colorful wrappings. They are gorgeous in flavor, perfectly sized for parties, and unique in their aesthetic.
Another great addition to any candy buffet.
- Contains one (1) 66.7-ounce bulk bag of approximately 400 HERSHEY'S KISSES Milk Chocolate Candies in silver foils with classic KISSES plumes
- Use bulk milk chocolate candy wrapped with stunning silver foils in party favors, treat dishes and candy buffets for a themed snack that looks as good as it tastes
- Kosher-certified, gluten-free bulk chocolate candy individually wrapped for lasting freshness and themed festivity
- Perfect for Father's Day celebrations, pride month, weddings, graduations and back to school preparation
- Creamy, delectable milk chocolate classics in bite-size morsels perfect for snacking and sharing throughout any day
Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers Gummy Worms
Who doesn’t love sour gummies? Especially the worm variety!
The ones produced by Trolli are particularly delicious:
- TROLLI SOUR BRITE CRAWLERS: Trolli sour gummy worms in neon colors & sugar coating pack a punch of tangy sweetness in weirdly-awesome fruity flavor combinations like orange-lime, cherry-lemon, & strawberry-grape.
- SOUR GUMMY WORMS: We think of Sour Brite Crawlers, our classic combo of sugary sweet & lip smacking sour gummy worms in flavors for every taste, as glowing deities that wiggle their way into your snack habit.
- TROLLI BULK CANDY: Can't get enough of the sweet & sour lip-smacking taste of Trolli candy. Buy your favorites in bulk & be ready when the craving hits, or be the hit of party if you can bear to share.
- MIND-BLOWING FLAVORS: Are very berry gummies or a fruity tropical paradise more your style. How about our Slurpee gummy worms. For the bravest, we have Fruit & Fire Crawlers: sweet, sour, & spicy hot.
- WEIRDLY AWESOME: We invented the gummi worm in 1986 and have been making the most weirdly awesome gummies ever since, from gummi sloths to Sour Brite Octopus, our sour candy will wow your taste buds.
SOUR POWER Berry Blue Candy Belts
Another candy for the sour heads out there.
These belts are fantastic and offer something a little different from the others recommended here today.
Belts are always good fun to eat, too, which is a nice added bonus!
- Sour Power Berry Blue Flavor
- 150 Delicious Berry Blue Belts
- Sour and great tasting belts
- Enjoyed by all ages!
Airheads Mini Bars
Airheads are a classic candy that we all recognize and love.
They are also ideal, being small and sealed too. So if your guests don’t get around to eating their way through them; you’ll have some left over to enjoy long after the event!
- Includes a fruit flavored individually wrapped Airheads mini bars
- Perfect treat size and easy to share. Stock up your pantry or use Airheads bulk candy for holidays, event party favors, office treats, concession stands, kids' parties and more
- Kosher, gluten-free and allergy-free candy. Free of all "Big 8" allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, shellfish and wheat
- Unwrap the fun and play delicious Get creative and cut or mold Airheads into custom treats.
- Non-Melting
How Many Types Of Candy To Get For A Candy Buffet?
So that you offer your guests enough variety in terms of color, flavor, size, and texture, you should aim to get between 7 and 10 different types of candy for your candy buffet.
Now you’re going to have a lot of guests at your social gathering…we hope.
Each guest comes with a different set of taste buds. What am I getting at here? People like different things and vice versa. People like different candies.
So to ensure that you cater to everyone, you need to offer variety. That way, you can hope that everyone gets to enjoy a candy they like from the buffet.
But you also need variety to mix up the color scheme of your buffet.
You don’t just want your candies to all be one color, but at the same time, you don’t want to have colors that don’t match the present in your buffet.
Nevertheless, variety is key to an excellent guest-satisfying candy buffet.
I would advise you to offer no less than 7 different types of candies in your candy buffet.
If you can offer more, that’s great too. I would suggest that you don’t exceed 10 different types of candy.
Too many options could bamboozle your guests! And we wouldn’t want that, would we? That’s the job of the alcohol you’ve stocked up on.
You should also aim to add 7-10 candy types that differ in terms of flavor, size, and texture.
Once you have these 7-10 candies, then you’re good to go.
But probably at this point, in your mind, another question arises…
How Much Candy To Get For A Candy Buffet?
You should aim to buy ¼ to ½ of a pound of candy per guest attending your party.
The second worst-case scenario is that you buy too much candy. If you do that, then you’ll be left with loads of candy to deal with afterward.
Which, let’s be honest, isn’t the end of the world because I’m sure a candy-lover like you can get rid of a spare load of candy somehow…
But the worst-case scenario is that you don’t buy enough candy. If you do this, then your candy buffet is going to run out quickly.
The result is that guests might not be satisfied as they don’t get to stuff their faces with enough candy. Some guests might not even get any candy at all.
Tough Karen! It’s survival of the fittest for this candy buffet.
Sorry, I got a bit distracted there.
Where were we? Oh yes! How much candy exactly should you get for the buffet?
So I would advise you to get between a ¼ to ½ pound of candy per guest.
¼ if your guests are normal. ½ if your guests are candy addicts.
Going by the ¼ pound of candy per guest measurement, you would need 25 pounds of candy for every 100 guests you have at your party.
If you’re doing ½ a pound of candy per guest, then it will be 50 pounds of candy for every 100 guests.
From here, I’m sure you can do the maths to calculate how much candy will be needed to cater for the total headcount at your party.
Some guests might consume less or none at all. Some guests might even consume more (you know who you are).
But by aiming for the numbers I have suggested, this will ensure that no matter what your guest’s appetites are on the night, everyone will get an opportunity to get their fair share of delicious candy from the buffet.
Other Suggestions When Having A Candy Buffet
As I’ve said earlier, making a candy buffet requires a bit of work.
You need to combine your logical thinking and your creative skills to produce something aesthetically pleasing, congruent with the rest of the party’s theme, delicious, practical, and accessible.
So here are a few further tips to help you out!
Don’t Forget Jars/Containers
You need jars and containers to hold the candy in. You can’t just leave all the candy on a table.
Not only will that be unhygienic, but it will also look messy.
Make sure you buy the most appropriate-sized jars and containers for your buffet.
If you buy jars and containers that are too big, when you put the candy in, there’ll be too much free space. This means your buffet won’t look as good.
You want your jars and containers to be as full as possible.
- Uses: Perfect for preserving and canning enthusiasts; this large canning jar is shaped and sized for canning homemade pickles, canned peaches, pickled carrots, jams, jellies, preserves, tomato sauces, broths and a variety more.
- Air-tight cover：withe the silicone seal ring ,can opens easily while closing securely. The preserving jar’s lid includes a plastisol liner that creates a vacuum seal ensuring contents stay fresh
- Food grade glass, won’t leach harmful chemicals into foods, or absorb flavors,easy to clean
- Wide Mouth: our wide mouth jars allow you to easily fill them with larger fruits and vegetables like zucchini, cucumber and more.s, The wide mouth also makes it convenient to reach in the half gallon jar to clean it out thoroughly.
- Worry free after sales:If you have any questions about glass jar ,please don't hesitate to contact us immediately,we will solve these problems to your satisfaction
Don’t Forget Scoops
Remember hygiene, folks. We can’t just have everyone stuffing their hands into candy jars now, can we?
Instead, provide your guests with scoops so that they can extract the candy from the jars without touching or putting germs on the sweets.
- Quantity and measurement: 8 packs clear plastic candy scoops, each scoop holds up 1/3 cup
- Multipurpose: these multi-purpose scoops are good for baking ingredients, crafts, and so on, made of durable plastic
- Features: as a necessity at home, these scoops touch smooth and use sturdy
- Methods of using: these clear scoops can use to scoop dry products like flour, sugar, etc. and work well with other containers
- Helpful tool: a good helper for your guest to serve themselves during parties, or for kids to scoop ice
Don’t Forget Bags
The scoops are useless unless they have somewhere to put the candy.
And that should be inside paper bags so that your guests have something to eat the candy out of, and they can also take it home with them at the end of the evening.
- READY TO GO: These assorted and single design bags are carefully pre-packaged and ready for use in your next event for your busy lifestyle
- FOOD SAFE: Made from food safe ink and paper so be ready to toss in any treats or desserts as you please
- BIODEGRADABLE & RECYCLABLE: The environment will thank you!
- MULTIPURPOSE: Perfect for all occasions including birthdays, anniversary, weddings, baby showers, special holidays, candy buffets, and more!
- SIZE & COUNT: Each bag measures about 7" height x 5" width, 48 bags per package. Holds approx 2-3 handfuls of treats per bag!
Watch Out For Allergies
Some of your guests might have allergies. Some of the candies in your buffet might contain ingredients that cause allergic reactions.
So just make sure you’re aware of any allergies your guests might have, and then change your candy buffet accordingly.
If you want to be super considerate, then you could label each jar to inform guests what the ingredients are in each candy.
Consider Location
Two things here. The first is where you decide to put the candy buffet at the party.
Keep it away from sunlight and warmth so that none of the candies melt or stick to each other.
The second thing to consider is where you live, for example, if you live somewhere where it’s really hot.
This should influence the type of candies you buy for your buffet.
So you should probably avoid chocolates if you live in chocolate-melting conditions.
Finally
Alright, there we have it! All the information you need to help you get the best candy for your candy buffet.
Lots of things to consider.
But trust me, it’s worth it.
Not for the smile on your guests’ faces…
…but for when you, yourself, get to enjoy your fabulous candy buffet creation.
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Hello, I’m Matthew, a candy expert and enthusiast with over a decade of experience in the candy industry. My passion for candy started at a very young age. Since then, I have worked in numerous, large candy stores, and have been fortunate enough to try out hundreds of brands of candies, different types and flavors. In addition to my work, I enjoy sharing my extensive knowledge with others, and decided to create Sugar Stand in order to do so. My mission is to make the world a sweeter place, one candy at a time.
