Watson’s Chocolates teamed up with local ice cream legend Anderson’s to celebrate a pretty special milestone: we both turned 80 in 2026! Both family-owned and proudly local, Watson’s and Anderson’s got their start in 1946. Eighty years later, we’re still here, still family-owned, and still finding ways to bring a little more sweetness to Western New York.

And our partnership goes back quite a ways. Shortly after the Watson’s shop on Elmwood Avenue opened in the fall of 1999, we teamed up with Anderson’s to create Sponge Candy Ice Cream, combining two Buffalo favorites into one unforgettable treat. It quickly became a best seller at both Watson’s and Anderson’s and remains a customer favorite today.

Over the years, we’ve had fun creating other exclusive ice cream flavors using Watson’s chocolates, including Charlie Chaplin and Elmwood Strip. To celebrate our 80th birthdays, we added a few new favorites to the lineup, including Buttercrunch, which is truly something special, and Chocolate Caramel Spider, featuring the delicious salty-sweet combination of chocolate, caramel and pretzel.

We celebrated together throughout the September weekend leading into Sponge Candy Day on September 21, with Anderson’s featuring our new flavors at their locations and Watson’s offering discounted cones. On Sponge Candy Day, we brought the party to Tonawanda with a joint celebration featuring free ice cream and Sponge Candy, Sponge Candy Milkshakes, and a trivia-driven sweepstakes. There was plenty of laughing, eating and reminiscing with some longtime regulars and even a visit from Channel 2 to help us tell the story.

Back at Watson’s, we kept the celebration going with sponge candy samples and a rare Sponge Candy sale at our stores.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate 80 years of being part of the community and a partnership that has been making Buffalo a little sweeter for more than 25 years.