Bulk confectionery

Bulk confectionery, pick and mix candy, candy walls, or simply loose candy is a retailing strategy where various types of confectionery are sold together in a large container or in separate bins, allowing customers to select the assortment and quantity they prefer. Typically used in vending machines or confectionery retailers, this method involves dispensing candy by weight or piece count. This method has a global presence, with variations in practice and terminology across regions.

Sweden
Bulk confectionery (Swedish: Lösgodis) originates back to the 1930s, when Swedish agriculture began to supply the country with refined sugar and made it possible to sell bulk confectionery in smaller shops. In 1984, the Swedish National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) approved selling it in ordinary larger stores, given that the candy varieties were kept in separate containers and picked with a scoop or a smaller bucket.

Self-serve loose candy walls were introduced by two Finnish students educated in Stockholm, Sweden. They developed the idea in Helsinki, Finland, in the early 1980's. Since then it has started to spread all around the world, mostly in Europe and Asia. Even some IKEA stores in North America have started to sell mostly Swedish varieties but also American classics.

Swedes ate the most pick and mix candy in the world in 2009. Maundy Thursday is the biggest selling day in grocery stores. In Sweden, about 18 kilograms of candy are consumed per person per year (as of 2014).

United States
The first penny candy to be sold in the United States was the Tootsie Roll, in 1907, followed by Necco Wafers and Hershey's Kisses in subsequent decades. Bulk-sale of candy in the 20th century US was mainly through the F.W. Woolworth Company’s five and dime store chain, which closed in the 1980s, marking an end in popularity of the phenomenon.