Two New York City-based confectioners to compete on
new Food Network competition series ‘Candy Land’
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A classic board game is coming to life
in the form of a new larger-thanlife
baking competition, and two
New York City-based confectioners are
competing together.
Hosted by Kristen Chenoweth, “Candy
Land” challenges fi ve teams to go head-tohead
to create confectionary showpieces
based on the iconic board game. Each
episode of the six-episode run features
the teams bringing lands such as the Peppermint
Forest and Gumdrop Mountains
to life while putting their skills to the test.
The players utilize unique fl avors and
ingredients in their baking creations and
incorporate sugar masterpieces into their
fi nal designs. Judges Nacho Aguirre and
Aarti Sequeira will determine which teams
move forward down the board game path
based on technical execution, creativity and
how well the candies are incorporated. The
fi rst team that makes it to King’s Kandy
Castle wins $25,000.
The teams are organized by color: Red,
Yellow, Orange, Pink and Blue. Two of the
contestants on Team Yellow, Grace Pak and
Jamila Phillip, own and operate their own
confectionary businesses in New York City;
Pak is the owner of the cake studio Duchess
& Cameron in Chelsea and the founder
of the New York Cake Design Lab, while
Phillip, who is also a psychotherapist, owns
online cake boutique, Jam’s Cakes, which
specializes in making custom sculpted
cakes and teaching cake decorating, cake
business and baking classes.
“Food Network actually reached out to
me through social media about the show,”
said Phillip. “I was a little hesitant at fi rst
because it’s outside of my comfort zone, but
FILE PHOTO
I decided to go for it.”
“One of the recruiters contacted me.
This was a while back, actually when COVID
was starting, so I was hesitant in the
beginning,” said Pak. “It ended up being
a great opportunity for me because when
COVID started, small businesses were put
on hold. It was a great opportunity to try
something new during this time.”
Pak comes from a fi ne arts background
and did a lot in terms of designing the
structure of the cakes on her team in
“Candy Land,” while Phillip has more
experience in sculpting cakes. However,
they both acknowledge that it was a huge
team effort to pull off these giant cakes.
“Working with a team was fun. Cake
artists like ourselves work alone or have
people for us, so we rarely get a chance
to work with other cake artists,” said Pak.
“It was so intense working under so much
pressure and competing against cake artists
from over the country, designing and
executing on the spot.”
Phillip and Pak agree that the “Candy
Land” set really makes you feel like you
are competing on the actual board game.
“Everything is so colorful,” said Phillip.
“It makes you want to taste everything.”
“Candy Land” premieres on Food Network
at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 15.
Contestants Alexis Nicole, Robert Nieto,
Mona Marwaha, Andrew Fuller, Reva
Alexander-Hawk, Cinthya Romriell, Eric
Kroeker, Brittani Diehl, Grace Pak, Jordan
Pilarski, Jamilla Phillip, Miriam Adar,
Deva Williamson, Ray Miranda-Vizcaino,
Jewel Johnson, Linda Khachadurian,
Thierry Aujard, Tiffany Lightfoot, Sasha
Naryzhny, Deavynne Millward, as seen on
Candyland, Season 1. (Photo courtesy of
Food Network)
Low income and minority residents held to ransom
by pandemic price gouging
BY HAZEL SHAHGHOLI
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protections
released a report on price gouging throughout
the coronavirus pandemic on Monday stating that
over 12,000 complaints had been made to the agency
since March 5. The department underscored that price
gouging had followed similar paths as COVID-19 infection
and mortality rates in disproportionately affecting
low-income Black, Brown and Hispanic neighborhoods.
Add to this the fact that residents in these neighborhoods
contain the largest percentages of low-income essential
workers—with low-income defi ned as those living with a
household income less than $30,000 per annum—and the
report adds to the mounting evidence of racial disparities
persisting throughout the pandemic in NYC across almost
every metric.
Frontline residents of these neighborhoods were some
of the most in need of the price-gouged products, such as
hand sanitizer, masks and disinfectant wipes, when the
virus infection rate was at its highest in the city, around
March and April of this year. A vicious cycle of demand
and price-gouged supply kicked off, increasing the diffi
cult circumstances of some of the city’s most vulnerable
residents.
Some of the most fl agrant offenses mentioned in the
report include the sale of 8 oz. bottlers of hand sanitizer
for $27.99 per unit and N95 masks for $20.00 per mask.
In terms of numbers, 34% of price gouging complaints
received were from the Bronx, 27% from Brooklyn, 10%
from Manhattan and 10% from Queens. Of the nine
neighborhoods that constituted 20% of all price-gouging
complaints, three were majority Black (Bedford Stuyvesant;
Canarsie and Flatlands; East Flatbush, Farragut, and
Rugby) and three were majority Hispanic (Belmont, Crotona
Park East, and East Tremont; Hunts Point, Longwood,
and Melrose; Bushwick).
City penalties for price gouging can total as much as
$500 per item or service, and some repeat offenders are
currently facing fi nes of up to $68,750. Furthermore, if
a store has had to pay extra for an in-demand product,
the price increase they pass on must be “comparable,” a
prerequisite added to prevent runaway infl ation.
In responding to exploitative retail practices, the DCWP
is following guidelines based on a special ruling for city
stores that was added to the City’s Consumer Protection
Law and that renders price gouging illegal for personal or
household goods or services that are needed to prevent or
limit the spread of or treat COVID-19. As of mid-July this
emergency measure was made permanent in NYC, where
price gouging is now illegal for any products or services
essential to health, safety and welfare during a declared
state of emergency.
The DCWP has issued 15,200 violations to private
FILE PHOTO
businesses since March 5. To put this number into perspective,
consumer giant Amazon has suspended the accounts
of only 3,900 “bad actors” nationwide since the beginning
of the pandemic. The anti-price gouging efforts of the
DCWP highlight that combatting this predatory practice
in vulnerable areas is a local effort. If you or someone you
know has had an experience of price gouging since March
5, you are instructed to keep your receipts and information
regarding the store and fi le a complaint at nyc.gov/dcwp or
by contacting 311 and saying “overcharge.”
4 November 12, 2020 Schneps Media
/dcwp
