Dress up everyday products for impulse sales

Marshmallows, pretzels and cherries are often used as adornments, not sold as individual products. But with a little embellishment, these small items can rack up big sales.

Marshmallows are very trendy right now as snacks, party favors, additions to cake orders, etc. They are easy to decorate in a few simple steps. Choose your marshmallow size, lollipop stick, some colorful chocolate and whatever nonpareils/sanding sugar/sprinkles that you have on hand. Dip the lollipop stick in melted chocolate before inserting it into the marshmallow to secure it in place. Dip half the marshmallow in melted chocolate and add sprinkles or sanding sugar.

Dress up ordinary fudge easily with sugar decorations. This is a great way to use extra sugar decorations that you have leftover from larger cake designs. Cut the fudge into small squares and use a dab of icing or chocolate to secure small sugar decorations on the top.

Again, these desserts are great vehicles for using those one or two sugar decorations you may have leftover. Use a dab of icing to adhere the decorations to the rice squares. You also may want to dip the rice squares in melted chocolate and adorn with sprinkles.

Pretzel rods also are very easy to “dress up” and make into a popular treat. Many people like the sweet/ salty combination of the chocolate and pretzel, and consumers often view them as a more healthful choice over cupcakes or cookies. Dip half the pretzel in melted chocolate and add a few sprinkles.

Cookies are almost always readily available in bakeries, and creating fun sandwich cookies is incredibly easy. Pipe whatever type of icing you have on hand onto the back of one cookie and place another cookie on top. Then roll the cookies in colored sprinkles. Place them at children’s eye level in your showcase and these colorful sandwich cookies are sure to draw their attention.

Chocolate-dipped strawberries are enormously popular, but expensive with a short shelf life. Maraschino cherries, on the other hand, can be purchased wholesale in large containers and stored for a long period of time. Sell them individually, by weight or add them to the top of a piece of fudge or a cookie. You can offer them year-round. Drain the cherries, and then dip them in melted chocolate. Top with sprinkles to add color.

Cake pops are everywhere. They are messy and tedious to make but customers love them. You can put your own twist on the “pop” trend by using donut holes instead, which are already round and “pop” size. If you don’t offer donuts or donut holes in your bakery, they are readily available from suppliers. Dip a lollipop stick in melted chocolate and insert into the donut hole. Then, dip the donut hole into the chocolate and top with sprinkles