Will Necco Wafers Be Made Again

If you've been peckish the classic processed known every bit Necco Wafers, for the past two years, you've been out of luck. Amazon doesn't accept them. Ebay might — for a price — but comport in mind that any rolls would be at least two years one-time.

Soon, that'due south about to change.

This week, in an exclusive interview with TODAY Food, Kirk Vashaw, the chairman and CEO of Spangler Candy, revealed that fresh rolls of Necco Wafers are fix to hitting shop shelves in just a few days.

The candies come up in eight singled-out flavors; merely the chocolate one might seem a chip unlike. Courtesy of Spangler Candy

"We've ever admired the brand and how information technology's woven in with the textile of our culture," Vashaw said. "It'southward neat to be eating a processed that was carried past Civil War soldiers, and taken on Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, and issued to GIs in Globe War Two as a morale booster. It'southward a piece of our history."

He's correct: Necco Wafers (the proper name is an acronym for the company that created the candies in 1847, the New England Confectionery Company) are a long-lasting, old-fashioned care for that'south been around for a very, very long time.

A wax paper-wrapped curlicue of the disc-shaped candies comes in a mix of eight flavors (lemon, lime, orangish, clove, cinnamon, wintergreen, licorice and chocolate). Previously, all-chocolate rolls have been sold, but are non currently existence manufactured.

The candies take proved both durable (they won't cook and travel well) and versatile: Vashaw said kids have used them every bit shingles on gingerbread houses, adults have used them as poker chips and fifty-fifty young Catholic worshippers have used them to exercise taking communion.

But the Necco factory striking hard times a few years ago and shuttered abruptly in mid-2018. Assets were auctioned off and Vashaw's Spangler Candy (dwelling house to sweets like Dum-Dums lollipops and Circus Peanuts) snapped upward several classic Necco brands, including the eponymous wafers and Sweethearts (which returned this twelvemonth for Valentine's Day). The visitor also bought up some of the central equipment used to brand Neccos and are currently producing the candies at a facility in Mexico.

Spangler Processed wanted everything to remain as close to the original as possible, downward to the wax paper wrapping. Courtesy of Spangler Processed

Fans of the classic recipe volition exist relieved as Vashaw confirmed that the formula has remained the same. The packaging is the same, likewise. "We kept the wax wrap around the coil exactly the same," said Vashaw, "and used the same supplier and everything."

There might be a slight difference in taste with the chocolate wafer, though. "Connoisseurs may notice a slightly richer taste to the cocoa," he explained. "It'due south the aforementioned flavor, only nosotros use a slightly different procedure. To our palate, information technology brings out the flavor a chip differently."

Only there was no plan to "improve" on what already, for fans, is perfection. "Candy is a unproblematic joy in life and information technology'south a simple reward," said Vashaw. "People want the same thing they call back every bit a kid. That's the beauty of candy — nostalgia."

Bringing a famous candy back to marketplace during the COVID-19 pandemic has presented some challenges, said a company spokesperson, but Spangler is enforcing social distancing at its Mexican factory. Employees must too submit to temperature checks and are required to wear face coverings.

"Given the layout of the production lines, most employees are able to easily maintain distance from each other and, in the few places where that is difficult, we have installed barriers," added the spokesperson.

Drugstores and pharmacies nationwide are expected to beginning getting fresh Necco Wafers by the end of this month or early June. The company expects shipments to other stores will arrive in July.

That's great news for fanatical Necco lovers, who will apparently practice anything to seek out the dearest discs — something Vashaw discovered personally.

"I was at a candy briefing last fall, and someone drove for miles, all the fashion there, and sought me out to specifically inquire about Necco Wafers," he said, calculation, "We're running as fast as nosotros can and promise to go along upwardly with demand this summertime."

Randee Dawn (she/her) is an entertainment journalist and writer based in Brooklyn. In add-on to writing for TODAY.com, Diversity and The Los Angeles Times, she's an author whose debut novel, Tune in Tomorrow, near a reality Tv set prove run past mythic creatures, volition publish in 2022. She's likewise the co-author of The Constabulary & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion. When not interviewing the stars or dabbling in speculative fiction, she dreams of the next place she can travel to, or cuddles her Westie. More at RandeeDawn.com.

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Source: https://www.today.com/food/necco-wafers-candies-make-sweet-comeback-after-2-year-absence-t182478

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