This past March, I came across an article in The New York Times, “When Economy Sours, a Tootsie Roll Can Still Soothe the Soul.” It talked about how, despite people spending less, the candy industry seems to fare well in economic downtimes.
The reason? Candy is comforting.
The article said how candy and sweets often evoke feelings of nostalgia. It could be memories of childhood, like trick-or-treating on Halloween, or perhaps baking chocolate-chip cookies on Christmas. And the fact that candy is relatively inexpensive makes it even more appealing during these times.
After reading back on this topic, I decided to dive deeper into the subject and find a more current article. After all, the economy hasn’t gotten any better since March, so maybe the nation is finally feeling a crash from its sugar high.
That doesn’t seem to be the case.
An article on Medill Reports, a site run by graduate students at Northwestern University’s Medill school, revealed that comfort foods like cupcakes, candy and even coffee, are remaining very successful.
Businesses specializing in comfort foods seem to be recession-proof. (Photo credit: C. Michael Neely/Wikimedia)
The article said that consumer psychology research has found that taking breaks, whether with cupcakes or even a cup of coffee, is beneficial in dealing with stress. Today, when people are overwhelmed with the stresses of the economy, it’s especially important to be able to escape every now and then — even if only for a few minutes.
With that in mind, I couldn’t help but to think back yet again to Martha Todd’s French Press Cafe. Similar to the subjects of the aforementioned articles, Todd said she wasn’t feeling any ill-effects of the recession. Most likely, her business is doing well for similar reasons: people need to relax, and her services help them to do such in an affordable way.
As I think ahead to my slideshow, I plan to focus it on the French Press Cafe. Not only does the business prove to be a story of success for Todd, but it also proves to be a glimpse of optimism for everyone else.
In times like these, optimism is the best strategy.
I liked the articles you found for this piece and how you showed correlation between ‘sweet’ businesses not hurting in the recession from March until now. The research made it evident that sweets are appealing to everyone for the sake of coping with stress. Adding the picture gave it a nice touch as well and how you ended the article by showing how your slideshow will focus around the French Press Cafe gave us readers a good sense of where your project is heading and how it may wrap up.