A gingerbread house by Annie Chappell of Northfield. Necco wafers form the roof shingles and stepping stones, sticks of Wrigley’s spearment chewing gum make the window shutters, white chocolate Lindt balls were stacked to form the snowman and various-colored gumdrops were cut into shapes for the hat for the snowman and a bow for the wreath. Spearmint gumdrop trees became tree and bush shapes. Icing provides the snowy details on top of the split-rail fence.
A gingerbread house by Annie Chappell of Northfield. Necco wafers form the roof shingles and stepping stones, sticks of Wrigley’s spearment chewing gum make the window shutters, white chocolate Lindt balls were stacked to form the snowman and various-colored gumdrops were cut into shapes for the hat for the snowman and a bow for the wreath. Spearmint gumdrop trees became tree and bush shapes. Icing provides the snowy details on top of the split-rail fence. Credit: SUBMITTED PHOTO

By BRYAN BOWMAN

Across the country, loyal fans have been stocking up on Necco wafers candy after the Revere-based company announced it may be forced to shut down.

Necco, which stands for New England Confectionery Co., is the oldest operating candy producer in the country, making wafers since 1847.

Area candy stores said Thursday they’ve seen a jump in sales of the classic, chalky wafers in recent days as news of the company’s financial troubles has spread.

Nolan Anaya, the owner of Captain Candy in downtown Northampton, said he first noticed the increased demand Thursday, and had been researching the trend throughout the day.

“In 2017, we sold exactly 365 units of wafers, so about one per day,” Anaya said. “Today alone, we’ve already sold 10.”

In Amherst, Carolyn Broughton-Willett, a manager at A.J. Hastings, said a customer bought an entire case of wafers off the shelves Thursday morning.

In recent days, Broughton-Willett said, other staff have overheard customers making jokes and comments about wafers.

Elsewhere, a Florida woman reportedly offered to trade her 2003 Honda Accord to wholesaler CandyStore.com for its entire inventory of wafers, according to the Boston Globe.

Katie Samuels, 23, said she has childhood memories of playing church and pretending the candies were communion wafers.

Candystore.com did not accept the offer in what it’s calling “The Great Necco Wafer Panic,” but Samuels managed to buy four dozen rolls of the wafers.

Anaya said he’s been fascinated by the “Necco Mania” phenomenon, but is also worried about the implications of a Necco shutdown for the candy industry.

“Different candy franchises come and go, it’s the way of the industry,” Anaya said. “But I’ve never seen someone publicize it the way they have.”

Anaya explained that Necco produces a lot more than just wafers, and that many more classics might also disappear from store shelves if the company goes under.

“What’s scary is that Necco has bought up a lot of other candies over the years,” Anaya said, giving the example of chocolate Sky bars. The company also produces the heart-shaped candies with messages on them that are a staple of Valentine’s Day.

“If (Necco) goes out of business, we lose all of that,” Anaya said.

Managers at Mount Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream in Easthampton and Tasties candy store in Northampton said Thursday that they were aware of the trend, but hadn’t seen an uptick in wafer sales so far.