CHRONIC CANDY

So, as a magazine editor and a member of the press, I often get to try things before the public does. Well, in this case I just recently found out about the sweet concoction called Chronic Candy. I have to say the candy is impressive right off the bat because the very idea is something that I'm surprised has not been done before on this scale in the United States. It is more than candy though, the story behind the sugar and bright colors is really what makes this a Cinderella story.
I met Tony "Montana" Van Pelt through the internet like many of my clients, and we talked about a feature for Voices Magazine. I was very happy because after hearing the story of how the company came to be, I knew that this story belonged in the pages of our magazine, especially since our very magazine has this same rags-to-riches type of backdrop. Tony is the founder/owner of the company and was the visionary that brought it to the United States and has made this idea flourish into a venture that will only continue to grow.
The story actually begins in Amsterdam when Tony was there vacationing with his family. He saw the candy and smuggled it back into the states in his moms suitcase. From there the adventure takes on a whole new momentum and this is where the company explodes onto the scene. So, in 2000, in San Bernardino, California Tony began selling the candy at his shop called, "The Bomb." Then he went to the second annual Smoke Out and there he sold about 2,000 lollipops in three hours. The very next day he sold out everything in his shop and from there the birth of a dynasty would begin.
Tony named this new found candy, "Chronic Candy." He had struck a nerve within all cultures of society. People who liked to smoke marijuana were interested, people who liked candy were curious and even people who did not smoke marijuana wanted to try it. At first there were three flavors, chronic, indo and skunk, and now there are as many flavors as there are types of marijuana. The company started off as just a candy company but now because of the fame, it is considered a brand.
A friend of Tony's named Stacey gave him the famous slogan, "Every lick is like taking a hit" and his wife Regina made some business cards for him and he hit the road. Him and his crew went to car shows, and swap meets selling the candy and networking with all types of people. But then in 2001 he sponsored the third annual Smoke Out and his business started to really take off. He realized then too, that a website would allow people who were not at these types of venues to be able to buy his products, plus that was during the huge dot com explosion that really fueled the internet. He had chroniccandy.com made but he didn't know how to run a website. So he figured that going to college would be the best place to learn how to do that. It would have been great but in his third week into college, during class his friend, "P-Funk" called and said, "I hope you are ready to go, cause you've got to be in New York in three days. I just got Chronic Candy on tour with Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube."
So yes the plot thickens. He packed up his famous Chronic Candy van and drove across the country with his now vice president Joe Mafia. They made good time and got there in two days, selling nickel bags to pay for food and gas all the way there. The second they got there they stopped in front of Time Square and sold the nickel bags of Chronic Candy for three hours. Both him and Joe Mafia knew then that this was going to be huge!
So during the tour they saw how easy it was to sell the candy and decided to take the business a step further and make t-shirts. They sold those too. So with the begining of concert touring behind them they have have been in business for 7 years and toured the country more times than the Rolling Stones. They tour every year with Ozzfest. They have a clothing line that sells worldwide. They have a new Chronic Ice Tea coming out in April 2007. They even still have that van with 343,987,230 miles on it.
(Pat Morita aka Mr. Miyagi with Chronic Candy van. R.I.P)
But every fairy tale has some evil in it and for these guys and their company that has been the ignorant people. The company has been prosecuted in over five states. People just assume that the company is searching out kids, in fact that could not be further from the truth. Chronic Candy is sold only in age 18 and over stores. When i spoke to Tony about this, here is what he had to say about it. "There are things for adults and there are things for kids. Just Like Vegas or Near Beer. There are 40,000,000 pot smokers in the United States and the average age is 40 plus. Those are our customers."
These days Chronic Candy is involved with so much more than just candy. They have their hands in the fashion world, music, entertainment, and just about anything that's new and fun. "We are a company who wants to give back to those who helped us grow. Tony says, "We hate when people label a person who smokes weed. We are hard working business men and women who enjoy smoking marijuana. So please take some time and really see what we're about and watch us grow."