The Candy Championships will take place in Jönköping and Gränna on August 9-10 this summer. Participants from all over Europe come to compete to see who can make the best candy canes in the world. Leif Mannerström and Christina Gyllner, winners of ‘Hela Sverige Bakar’, are two of the judges who will assess the skills of the participating sugar bakers.
It is now confirmed that the first participant from outside Europe is ready. “Schimpff’s Confectionery” from Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA is a family business founded in 1891, and through generations it is still alive and thriving today, having just been awarded the Family Business of the Year in the State of Indiana by the US Small Business Administration. Warren and Jill Schimpff have been running the family business for 25 years, usually making caramels and chocolates by hand, best known for their ‘Cinnamon Red Hots’, bright red caramels with a cinnamon flavor. Now they will try their hand at baking Swedish candy canes, with Warren himself competing for Schimpff’s Confectionery and the USA. “They are practicing hard at home in Indiana and are excited to come to Sweden to compete in the candy crafts.
With so many generations of sugar bakers, I think we will face tough competition from the US, Warren has candy craftsmanship in his blood.” says Lovisa Ljung, media manager for the Candy Championships.
