HARRISBURG -- Bob Stahl outlines his marketing strategy from a folding canvas director's chair in his booth at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, where thousands of people cluster in front of product display tables for free bites of beef jerky, chocolate, pretzels and cheese.
Stahl wants the 69-cent Club Sandwich -- a mouth-watering concoction made from creamy peanut butter sandwiched between two crackers and smothered in chocolate -- to be the most popular candy bar in Pottsville, the headquarters of his 12-employee company, Costas Candy. Then, he wants that distinction throughout Schuylkill County, and after that, he wants to expand the circle to take in surrounding counties and spread across the state.
"It's very hard to do that as a small company, so that's why I'm here," Stahl said, scanning the denim- and flannel-clad crowd. "You're not going to find this on your pillow at the Hilton Hotel like a luxury chocolate. You're going to find it in your lunch box.
"These are my people."
Snacks and other foods manufactured in Pennsylvania are among the favorite attractions this week at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, an annual exposition that showcases agriculture, the state's leading industry. More than 400,000 people are expected to visit the event that features hundreds of homegrown products, livestock, entertainment, youth competitions and exhibitions.
Stahl, a former director of product development for Hershey Foods, understands from more than 30 years of experience in the candy business that whether it's chips, crackers or chocolate, people love their goodies in Pennsylvania.
"Hershey and the Mars Candy Co. started it, probably because there's a lot of dairy products available. Pennsylvania has a lot of agricultural diversity, but it seems as though chocolate and snacks are what we do best," he said.
Although the Keystone State is known jokingly as the "snack food capital of the world," there are statistics to prove it.
The Food Marketing Cooperative of Pennsylvania reports that the state -- where 2,300 food companies have headquarters -- leads the nation in total snack food sales by generating $5.1 billion annually. The state produces more pretzels and potato chips annually than any other, according to the state Bureau of Market Development.
Stahl and many of the food producers who have brought their wares to the show are part of the PA Preferred program, which identifies locally grown or processed items that meet strict food safety standards. Many cater to local markets, while others are names familiar to everyone's table -- Musselman's Apple Sauce, Pennsylvania Dutchman mushrooms, Snyder's potato chips, Meadowland Farms beef, Hatfield hams, Lucky Leaf apple juice.
Those and other agricultural products are pushing Pennsylvania to the forefront in many areas, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
The state leads the nation in mushroom production, with 465 million pounds harvested annually. It ranks first in the number of Christmas tree farms, with 2,164, and first in the production of hardwood lumber, with 1.1 billion board-feet per year.
Meat, poultry and fish industries generate more than $4.3 million in sales annually in Pennsylvania, which ranks third in egg production, with 6.75 billion eggs, and fifth for trout harvesting, with 1.68 million pounds processed each year.
To the state's producers, the numbers are a source of pride as they talk with show visitors.
"Our meats are produced in Pennsylvania and sold fresh here," said Eric Haman, a spokesman for Hatfield Quality Meats, a firm that employs 1,600 people at its headquarters about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. "We have a lot to do with the 4-H and Future Farmers of America. We're local and we try to give back to them by supporting them."
Many of the PA Preferred growers say they enjoy the show because they participated in 4-H and other agricultural groups as children. Some are fourth- and fifth-generation farmers and food producers.
Carol Nicklaus is a fourth-generation pretzel maker for Hammond's Pretzel Bakery, a 20-employee Lancaster company that sells about 300,000 pounds of pretzels each year.
Well, not exactly.
Nicklaus handles the office work for the company started in 1931, but never learned to make the sourdough pretzels from the secret recipe perfected by her great-grandfather, grandfather and father.
"I can't make them. My kids make pretzels and my husband makes them, but I've always been too busy doing other things," said Nicklaus, who is selling pretzels in large orange and green tins for her fourth year at the Farm Show. "Right now, the fifth generation -- my son and daughter -- are taking over the business."
That being the case, she said, Hammond's will remain small, with sales dedicated to a regional market in Lancaster and York counties and mail orders.
Although the Department of Agriculture reports that agricultural exports are increasing each year, it appears that often what is made in Pennsylvania stays in Pennsylvania.
Beekeeper Brenda Aucker, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania State Beekeeper's Association, said most of the honey producers across the state cater to local markets and sell their products -- clover, wildflower and buckwheat honey, soaps, candles and lip balms -- at roadside stands and farmers markets.
"Very little is exported. The majority of honey produced here stays here," she said.
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