Mint candy: peppermint power keeps the mainstream mint market viable--and even opens up new opportunities for growth.

"Power mints" may have gotten all the press in recent years, but meanwhile the mainstream peppermint product category has been plugging steadily along.

According to Information Resources Inc. data, sales of plain mints in the food/drug/mass category (excluding Wal-Mart) fell 2.7 percent in 2002 to $80.1 million on unit sales that fell 3.8 percent. This slight downturn isn't enough to give pause to one of the leading companies that's forging ahead with big plans to seize new ground.

Quality Candy Co., which owns the venerable King Leo retail brand and also manufactures the original Choco-Starlights and Spi-C-Mints, is clearly bullish on the mint category. With …