Specializing in a Taste of the Carolina's
Our Products
The History of Our Candies
I actually started back in the late 70's making some recipes at home that I had collected from
various cookbooks. My first interest was in butter toffee and I worked on that for sometime.
Quite a few years went by till 1984 and thats when I finally had some real time to devote to this
art of candy making to see what I could come up with. Every holiday I would make huge batches
of candy for relatives and friends. That is when my family started saying I needed to do
something with my candy.
I was trying more and more recipes and with a lot of trial and error and tons of research and
reading. I was starting to develop an understanding of the role each of the ingredients made in
my candy. Along with that came experimenting with recipes and formulating my own recipes
based on what I like and how I wanted my candy to taste. Bringing a mixture of ingredients
together plus matching this up with the right flavor of chocolate can take some real time to
achieve.
I just stayed with it and kept working on more of my own recipes. I suppose I should also
mention here that huge amounts of money go into perfecting a recipe. Ya just keep making
more and more batches till you get it right. Tempering chocolate can also be an art especially
when you are pushing out 1000's of pieces at a time and find that an hour after you have dipped
them......they are starting to all turn white>>>>Bloom!! A chocolatiers nightmare!
Really the whole thing was an ongoing hobby that I seemed to really find a challenge with. By
late 1985 I was making candy for each holiday that came along. I had sold a few boxes here and
there to cover expenses but most of the candy was given away.
We had a business in Colorado and that is where we tested the waters to see if there would be
any response to this candy that the family thought was so good. So at Christmas time we sent
small 1/4lb. boxes out on the routes with an assortment of chocolates and some bite size
pieces of butter toffee thrown in on top, each box was neatly gift wrapped and tied with a ribbon.
various cookbooks. My first interest was in butter toffee and I worked on that for sometime.
Quite a few years went by till 1984 and thats when I finally had some real time to devote to this
art of candy making to see what I could come up with. Every holiday I would make huge batches
of candy for relatives and friends. That is when my family started saying I needed to do
something with my candy.
I was trying more and more recipes and with a lot of trial and error and tons of research and
reading. I was starting to develop an understanding of the role each of the ingredients made in
my candy. Along with that came experimenting with recipes and formulating my own recipes
based on what I like and how I wanted my candy to taste. Bringing a mixture of ingredients
together plus matching this up with the right flavor of chocolate can take some real time to
achieve.
I just stayed with it and kept working on more of my own recipes. I suppose I should also
mention here that huge amounts of money go into perfecting a recipe. Ya just keep making
more and more batches till you get it right. Tempering chocolate can also be an art especially
when you are pushing out 1000's of pieces at a time and find that an hour after you have dipped
them......they are starting to all turn white>>>>Bloom!! A chocolatiers nightmare!
Really the whole thing was an ongoing hobby that I seemed to really find a challenge with. By
late 1985 I was making candy for each holiday that came along. I had sold a few boxes here and
there to cover expenses but most of the candy was given away.
We had a business in Colorado and that is where we tested the waters to see if there would be
any response to this candy that the family thought was so good. So at Christmas time we sent
small 1/4lb. boxes out on the routes with an assortment of chocolates and some bite size
pieces of butter toffee thrown in on top, each box was neatly gift wrapped and tied with a ribbon.
I was pretty nervous about the whole idea. At the time we were living upstairs in an apartment above our bait shop. In order
to really control the heat element I cooked these batches on a Coleman stove, melted the chocolate there and everything
came out just perfect.
Soon after the deliveries got made of the fishing baits (that is when we had a retail tackle shop and a wholesale bait and
tackle delivery service that took care of 300 accounts) each customer was handed this petite box of chocolates as a
Christmas gift of gratitude for their business with our company.
Well then came the phone calls! And more phone calls and more phone calls and they continued to come. Our accounts
were inquiring as to where we purchased the delicious chocolates. We told our delivery drivers not to tell our accounts
that we had made the chocolates but to just wish them a Merry Christmas and hand them the box. There were no labels of
any kind on these home made gifts. Well the response from all of this is what really peaked our interest.
Research continued and so did our obligations to our ongoing bait business, so there was not a lot of time to devote to the
hobby of candy making....but it did set the wheels in motion to at least start thinking about getting more serious about all of
this.
About this time is when I found Verna Twist, an international candy buyer who ran a Denver show room for retailers to
come and pick out items for their businesses. A lot of the ski resort shop owners and boutique owners shopped with her.
She invited me down to the showroom and was generous enough to make time for us to visit for awhile. I guess that you
could say my visit with her was the turning point for me. I found her so very inspiring. I really was just not sure about this
whole thing. I mean I loved making candy but the thought of selling it was way beyond my apprehension. No....no definately I
did not see myself SELLING candy!
to really control the heat element I cooked these batches on a Coleman stove, melted the chocolate there and everything
came out just perfect.
Soon after the deliveries got made of the fishing baits (that is when we had a retail tackle shop and a wholesale bait and
tackle delivery service that took care of 300 accounts) each customer was handed this petite box of chocolates as a
Christmas gift of gratitude for their business with our company.
Well then came the phone calls! And more phone calls and more phone calls and they continued to come. Our accounts
were inquiring as to where we purchased the delicious chocolates. We told our delivery drivers not to tell our accounts
that we had made the chocolates but to just wish them a Merry Christmas and hand them the box. There were no labels of
any kind on these home made gifts. Well the response from all of this is what really peaked our interest.
Research continued and so did our obligations to our ongoing bait business, so there was not a lot of time to devote to the
hobby of candy making....but it did set the wheels in motion to at least start thinking about getting more serious about all of
this.
About this time is when I found Verna Twist, an international candy buyer who ran a Denver show room for retailers to
come and pick out items for their businesses. A lot of the ski resort shop owners and boutique owners shopped with her.
She invited me down to the showroom and was generous enough to make time for us to visit for awhile. I guess that you
could say my visit with her was the turning point for me. I found her so very inspiring. I really was just not sure about this
whole thing. I mean I loved making candy but the thought of selling it was way beyond my apprehension. No....no definately I
did not see myself SELLING candy!
In a world full of so many talented companies that make candy....how could I find a place to fit in? It just seemed to far
fetched for me. I looked Verna straight in the eye, here was "the on the front line voice of experience"! She handled
candies from all over the world. I asked her point blank........."Do you really believe that there is a chance for someone
these days to break into a business with all the wonderful and well known candy companies and candy makers out there?"
I paused as I felt certain of what her answer would be. She responded rather quickly but also very sure of what she was
saying to me. She said, "There is always room for another candy maker that makes good candy!", and she meant it!
She sent me out of her office that day with a changed attitude, it seemed as from that moment on my whole way of thinking
changed. Some time had passed and a lot had gone on, we closed the bait shop and moved the wholesale business to
Nebraska to be near Jerry's parents....things finally calmed down somewhat and once again I found time to focus on some
serious candy making. We still kept pretty busy with our bait business but things were a bit slower in the winter months
than the summers.
Somehow I let Jerry talk me into testing the waters once again. I think you find with these types of interest, that ifs it not
something you do all the time...it appears that the faith you have in your abilities sometimes dwindles and ya need to give
yourself another "Fix" so to speak to re-confirm your ongoing thoughts or at least the thoughts you have in trying to
convince yourself that its all doable....possible.....and better yet>>>>worth it!
fetched for me. I looked Verna straight in the eye, here was "the on the front line voice of experience"! She handled
candies from all over the world. I asked her point blank........."Do you really believe that there is a chance for someone
these days to break into a business with all the wonderful and well known candy companies and candy makers out there?"
I paused as I felt certain of what her answer would be. She responded rather quickly but also very sure of what she was
saying to me. She said, "There is always room for another candy maker that makes good candy!", and she meant it!
She sent me out of her office that day with a changed attitude, it seemed as from that moment on my whole way of thinking
changed. Some time had passed and a lot had gone on, we closed the bait shop and moved the wholesale business to
Nebraska to be near Jerry's parents....things finally calmed down somewhat and once again I found time to focus on some
serious candy making. We still kept pretty busy with our bait business but things were a bit slower in the winter months
than the summers.
Somehow I let Jerry talk me into testing the waters once again. I think you find with these types of interest, that ifs it not
something you do all the time...it appears that the faith you have in your abilities sometimes dwindles and ya need to give
yourself another "Fix" so to speak to re-confirm your ongoing thoughts or at least the thoughts you have in trying to
convince yourself that its all doable....possible.....and better yet>>>>worth it!
There was a big Homebuilders Show coming to town. We talked it over and decided to give it a try. We had never done
anything like this before but we thought we could pull it off. I was really not crazy about the idea, but I did think it was
something worth doing to see if we really had any kind of chance with this candy. Due to the show being a three day event,
I was not even sure how much candy to make but we ordered enough chocolate so that if we had to make more candy we
could.
We started out figuring that we would take our large display case that has a bottom and 2 shelves, then figured what kinds
of candy we wanted to make and then it was pretty smooth sailing from there to figure out about how many pieces we
were going to have to make. Since I always like to have more than less, I figured I would stack the trays really high and if
we had candy left over I could give it to the family.
So we did it, sent in the application and paid for a spot. We started ordering chocolate and buying supplies right away. I
tried to figure out how many days before the event that I needed to start making candy and after that we were ready to go.
I can say I think I got more and more nervous as that weekend approached. Finally it was time to get ready. We made the
candy, got the display case out and ready to be loaded on the van. I was pretty busy making those chocolates so I did not
have very much time on my hands to think about what we were about to embark on, but oh boy when the candy was
done....pure fear set in!
I was worried sick that maybe this was just not a good idea and Jerry.....he never worries about anything....he was always
a kind of "jump into it, worry later" kind of guy. So the morning of the show finally arrived and just the two of us were going
to work it. The first day I made a huge cake to take along and we were going to hand pieces of it out to folks. There was
also another huge problem this weekend....we had a load of bait coming in. That meant that we had to fit in driving 5 hours
to Denver to the airport to pick it up and returning (another 5 hours) right away to Nebraska to be ready to open at the show
the next morning. The bait would be there on Saturday night so the plan was to get out of the show and leave for the quick
trip right away. It would take about 12 hours but we would be back in enough time to be at the show Sunday morning when
it opened.
On Friday night the show was just a few hours with the hours lasting all day on Saturday and Sunday. As we got to the
Armory I was pretty scared and as we were unloading this huge heavy display case and had set it down on the ground, one
of the legs broke off. Tears started to flow quite quickly and I told Jerry..."Its a sign! We don't belong here. This was a
mistake!" Jerry always has this real positive attitude so into the hall we went.
anything like this before but we thought we could pull it off. I was really not crazy about the idea, but I did think it was
something worth doing to see if we really had any kind of chance with this candy. Due to the show being a three day event,
I was not even sure how much candy to make but we ordered enough chocolate so that if we had to make more candy we
could.
We started out figuring that we would take our large display case that has a bottom and 2 shelves, then figured what kinds
of candy we wanted to make and then it was pretty smooth sailing from there to figure out about how many pieces we
were going to have to make. Since I always like to have more than less, I figured I would stack the trays really high and if
we had candy left over I could give it to the family.
So we did it, sent in the application and paid for a spot. We started ordering chocolate and buying supplies right away. I
tried to figure out how many days before the event that I needed to start making candy and after that we were ready to go.
I can say I think I got more and more nervous as that weekend approached. Finally it was time to get ready. We made the
candy, got the display case out and ready to be loaded on the van. I was pretty busy making those chocolates so I did not
have very much time on my hands to think about what we were about to embark on, but oh boy when the candy was
done....pure fear set in!
I was worried sick that maybe this was just not a good idea and Jerry.....he never worries about anything....he was always
a kind of "jump into it, worry later" kind of guy. So the morning of the show finally arrived and just the two of us were going
to work it. The first day I made a huge cake to take along and we were going to hand pieces of it out to folks. There was
also another huge problem this weekend....we had a load of bait coming in. That meant that we had to fit in driving 5 hours
to Denver to the airport to pick it up and returning (another 5 hours) right away to Nebraska to be ready to open at the show
the next morning. The bait would be there on Saturday night so the plan was to get out of the show and leave for the quick
trip right away. It would take about 12 hours but we would be back in enough time to be at the show Sunday morning when
it opened.
On Friday night the show was just a few hours with the hours lasting all day on Saturday and Sunday. As we got to the
Armory I was pretty scared and as we were unloading this huge heavy display case and had set it down on the ground, one
of the legs broke off. Tears started to flow quite quickly and I told Jerry..."Its a sign! We don't belong here. This was a
mistake!" Jerry always has this real positive attitude so into the hall we went.
We got to our spot and looking around at these booths I knew we did not belong here. This was a Homebuilders Show. We
set up and the show got ready to open. We had a good first night and sold quite a few pieces of candy even tho the show
was only open 3 hours. I rode home that night feeling much better after selling some candy and talking to people. So
Saturday morning we were back on our way down there and ready to go. It was an all day event on Saturday.
Well, what happened on Saturday changed our life forever. We were so busy that the two of us could barely handle the
booth by ourselves. People were lined up to get to us all day. The lines were long and went down 3-4 booths next to us.
There was no time to do anything but bag that candy and sell it. By the time the show ended we were completely exhausted
but the excitement was very high. We were instantly in trouble because there was not one piece of candy left and I had
went with hundreds of pieces. We did not sell any boxes or anything like that, just little bags and you selected what types
you wanted.
Well now panic started to set in. We had to leave for Denver to pick up our bait and had no time to waste in order to be
back by morning. So on the way home we discussed some workable plans to pull this off because if we were going to that
show Sunday I had to get some more candy made and FAST!
By the time we pulled into the driveway the plan was already in action, Jerry would go to Denver alone and drive all night to
get back., he should be back by 7am if he left now. He called his sister and she agreed to come and help me at the show
the next day till he got there in case he was running late. To make matters worse he had to drop the bait off in the coolers
at the house before coming to the show and it was a 45 minute ride from the house to the Armory. But we were use to
living a life of having to do what ya had to do to get things accomplished.
He left and I started making candy. I knew it would be an all night affair and we promised people on Saturday that we would
have more candy on Sunday, because we ran out just before the show ended. I worked hard and swift and managed to get
all the candy made and hoped it would be enough to get us through Sunday. I got to the hall early and started traying up the
candies but people from the show kept coming over to buy because they said the lines were so long on Saturday. Well,
everything was ready to go but Jerry's sister was not there and I was beginning to panic. People started coming in right
away and I was stuck at that booth when she finally arrived.
Once again and rather quickly the lines started to form, they were longer on Sunday than they were on Saturday. We
worked diligently and finally Jerry got there. Him and I bagged candy and his sister took cash. People at the show that had
booths and some of the managers of the show kept coming over and telling us, "You really have something here!" The
radio station was there that day interviewing people and they wanted to do a segment with me. Pretty soon people were
stopping at the show just to come in and buy candy. The managers of the show said we had people wanting just to pay a
fee to come in and buy your candy but could not stay for the show.
set up and the show got ready to open. We had a good first night and sold quite a few pieces of candy even tho the show
was only open 3 hours. I rode home that night feeling much better after selling some candy and talking to people. So
Saturday morning we were back on our way down there and ready to go. It was an all day event on Saturday.
Well, what happened on Saturday changed our life forever. We were so busy that the two of us could barely handle the
booth by ourselves. People were lined up to get to us all day. The lines were long and went down 3-4 booths next to us.
There was no time to do anything but bag that candy and sell it. By the time the show ended we were completely exhausted
but the excitement was very high. We were instantly in trouble because there was not one piece of candy left and I had
went with hundreds of pieces. We did not sell any boxes or anything like that, just little bags and you selected what types
you wanted.
Well now panic started to set in. We had to leave for Denver to pick up our bait and had no time to waste in order to be
back by morning. So on the way home we discussed some workable plans to pull this off because if we were going to that
show Sunday I had to get some more candy made and FAST!
By the time we pulled into the driveway the plan was already in action, Jerry would go to Denver alone and drive all night to
get back., he should be back by 7am if he left now. He called his sister and she agreed to come and help me at the show
the next day till he got there in case he was running late. To make matters worse he had to drop the bait off in the coolers
at the house before coming to the show and it was a 45 minute ride from the house to the Armory. But we were use to
living a life of having to do what ya had to do to get things accomplished.
He left and I started making candy. I knew it would be an all night affair and we promised people on Saturday that we would
have more candy on Sunday, because we ran out just before the show ended. I worked hard and swift and managed to get
all the candy made and hoped it would be enough to get us through Sunday. I got to the hall early and started traying up the
candies but people from the show kept coming over to buy because they said the lines were so long on Saturday. Well,
everything was ready to go but Jerry's sister was not there and I was beginning to panic. People started coming in right
away and I was stuck at that booth when she finally arrived.
Once again and rather quickly the lines started to form, they were longer on Sunday than they were on Saturday. We
worked diligently and finally Jerry got there. Him and I bagged candy and his sister took cash. People at the show that had
booths and some of the managers of the show kept coming over and telling us, "You really have something here!" The
radio station was there that day interviewing people and they wanted to do a segment with me. Pretty soon people were
stopping at the show just to come in and buy candy. The managers of the show said we had people wanting just to pay a
fee to come in and buy your candy but could not stay for the show.
The radio segment brought even more folks and we were approached by several businesses to put our product in their
stores. Just standing there watching the local people buy up that candy like they were made us all realize there was
something here. It was hard to talk to anyone because of the lines that never seemed to end. People that bought candy on
Saturday stopped back on Sunday to buy more. Soon some lady walked into the back of our booth with a big smile on her
face and said, "Who are you people?" We did not know who she was.
She just jumped in and started helping us. We found out that she was the local owner of the well known business
"Nebraska Baskets", and she was as astounded as us to see these lines of people. Folks were buying more and more
pieces in those little bags and some walked away with several bags because we did not have boxes.
Even when the show finally came to an end and we felt we could finally catch our breath, business owners were there
asking about our business. WHAT BUSINESS?, we had no candy business......we had a bait business. People from all the
booths around us came over graciously and thanked us, they said due to the long lines at our booth they were able to
show their products to a lot of folks. As we tried to sit down a few minutes and catch our breath, people were coming in
off the street looking to buy more candy as well as the folks breaking down their booths, but everything was gone.
The lady from "Nebraska Baskets" stayed to chat awhile and we had a nice visit about getting this product up and running
now. Honestly we were just pooped, Jerry had driven all night and I made candy all night and we worked hard Saturday
and then Sunday. We told this lady we would come down and talk to her along with a few other businesses that
approached us. She took our phone number anyway. I told them we are not set up to manufacture candy and that this was
really more of a hobby. They all burst into laughter together and one said, "NOT ANYMORE!"
That was the understatement of the year, cause even if we did not think we were going to get the ball rolling on this
overnight>>>>>>>these folks decided they would help us along! Now granted the show made both of us take notice but we
just needed a good nights sleep and then we could talk. At 7:30 am Monday morning following the show, the phone started
ringing! Who was it???
The University of Nebraska Food Processing Center?? Who was this! I was not even awake yet and little did I know that
these were the very people that were going to change my life forever. They asked,"Who are you people?" well I knew who
asked me that the day before. There was no putting them off, I mean this conversation was going down right now no
matter how not awake I was.
They were shooting questions at me faster than my poor brain could react, especially that early in the morning. They
wanted to know all about us, who we were, and where we lived and all about this candy. I asked, " How did you folks get
our phone number?" They said, "We been getting phone calls on you all morning." I was awake enough to figure this
out>>>>>How could they be getting phone calls all morning on us?>>>it was 7:30am!!!
They barely took a breath between questions, but we managed to get some kind of conversation going so we both got a
chance to talk! That was the initial phone call that really started my candy career. It was the start of a 10 year relationship
with them in getting my product up and running. Even at the time we did not realize that our life was really about to change
forever.
stores. Just standing there watching the local people buy up that candy like they were made us all realize there was
something here. It was hard to talk to anyone because of the lines that never seemed to end. People that bought candy on
Saturday stopped back on Sunday to buy more. Soon some lady walked into the back of our booth with a big smile on her
face and said, "Who are you people?" We did not know who she was.
She just jumped in and started helping us. We found out that she was the local owner of the well known business
"Nebraska Baskets", and she was as astounded as us to see these lines of people. Folks were buying more and more
pieces in those little bags and some walked away with several bags because we did not have boxes.
Even when the show finally came to an end and we felt we could finally catch our breath, business owners were there
asking about our business. WHAT BUSINESS?, we had no candy business......we had a bait business. People from all the
booths around us came over graciously and thanked us, they said due to the long lines at our booth they were able to
show their products to a lot of folks. As we tried to sit down a few minutes and catch our breath, people were coming in
off the street looking to buy more candy as well as the folks breaking down their booths, but everything was gone.
The lady from "Nebraska Baskets" stayed to chat awhile and we had a nice visit about getting this product up and running
now. Honestly we were just pooped, Jerry had driven all night and I made candy all night and we worked hard Saturday
and then Sunday. We told this lady we would come down and talk to her along with a few other businesses that
approached us. She took our phone number anyway. I told them we are not set up to manufacture candy and that this was
really more of a hobby. They all burst into laughter together and one said, "NOT ANYMORE!"
That was the understatement of the year, cause even if we did not think we were going to get the ball rolling on this
overnight>>>>>>>these folks decided they would help us along! Now granted the show made both of us take notice but we
just needed a good nights sleep and then we could talk. At 7:30 am Monday morning following the show, the phone started
ringing! Who was it???
The University of Nebraska Food Processing Center?? Who was this! I was not even awake yet and little did I know that
these were the very people that were going to change my life forever. They asked,"Who are you people?" well I knew who
asked me that the day before. There was no putting them off, I mean this conversation was going down right now no
matter how not awake I was.
They were shooting questions at me faster than my poor brain could react, especially that early in the morning. They
wanted to know all about us, who we were, and where we lived and all about this candy. I asked, " How did you folks get
our phone number?" They said, "We been getting phone calls on you all morning." I was awake enough to figure this
out>>>>>How could they be getting phone calls all morning on us?>>>it was 7:30am!!!
They barely took a breath between questions, but we managed to get some kind of conversation going so we both got a
chance to talk! That was the initial phone call that really started my candy career. It was the start of a 10 year relationship
with them in getting my product up and running. Even at the time we did not realize that our life was really about to change
forever.
By now I guess we realized that the candy was really something worth pursuing but still it took some time.I kept working
on recipes and ideas. Another year went by and we found ourselves moved to the small town of Wellfleet, there we
bought a house and decided to try to start thinking about the candy. Jerry was wrapping things up with the wholesale bait
routes and we were searching for something to do locally to make a living so we would have time to focus on this candy
thing. Jerry decided to take some time off and I had a job managing a store at the mall in North Platte, Ne.. We were
working all the local craft shows and such around the holidays doing well with the candy.
Once again we had some businesses approach us that wanted to put our candy in their stores and that is when the
approach was made to the cafe owner at Wellfleet about renting his kitchen after he closed at night. In negotiating this
deal and discussing what we would pay, he came up with the idea that if we would work his cafe sometimes when he and
his wife wanted to go out of town that would be all he needed for this to work. He had known from prior conversations, as
we were frequent customers in his cafe, that both of us knew how to cook and I came from a restaurant background. So
he knew we were capable of running the small cafe. We agreed to this offer and now had a place to make candy in a
commercially inspected kitchen.
As more time went by and we got a little busier, the owner of the cafe asked us if we would be interested in buying the
business. After much thought about this, we decided it would work out great. We would have a place right there in town, a
town of 63 residents, to make a living and have a commercial kitchen at the same time to pursue the candy. So we
bought the business and within 30 days of that we bought the property from the property owner. To make sure things
were going to work out, I kept my management position in North Platte for one year. In that one year was when we started
to run into another obstacle that was going to throw the candy on the back burner again.
on recipes and ideas. Another year went by and we found ourselves moved to the small town of Wellfleet, there we
bought a house and decided to try to start thinking about the candy. Jerry was wrapping things up with the wholesale bait
routes and we were searching for something to do locally to make a living so we would have time to focus on this candy
thing. Jerry decided to take some time off and I had a job managing a store at the mall in North Platte, Ne.. We were
working all the local craft shows and such around the holidays doing well with the candy.
Once again we had some businesses approach us that wanted to put our candy in their stores and that is when the
approach was made to the cafe owner at Wellfleet about renting his kitchen after he closed at night. In negotiating this
deal and discussing what we would pay, he came up with the idea that if we would work his cafe sometimes when he and
his wife wanted to go out of town that would be all he needed for this to work. He had known from prior conversations, as
we were frequent customers in his cafe, that both of us knew how to cook and I came from a restaurant background. So
he knew we were capable of running the small cafe. We agreed to this offer and now had a place to make candy in a
commercially inspected kitchen.
As more time went by and we got a little busier, the owner of the cafe asked us if we would be interested in buying the
business. After much thought about this, we decided it would work out great. We would have a place right there in town, a
town of 63 residents, to make a living and have a commercial kitchen at the same time to pursue the candy. So we
bought the business and within 30 days of that we bought the property from the property owner. To make sure things
were going to work out, I kept my management position in North Platte for one year. In that one year was when we started
to run into another obstacle that was going to throw the candy on the back burner again.
Jerry ran the cafe with some help and I came on to help him when I got home from work everyday. By the time we were
approaching having the cafe a year it was getting busy in there. Once again the candy was pretty much just made around
the holidays and a few boxes sold to businesses. We got so busy with the cafe I finally had to quit my job in North Platte
and we felt safe that we could make a living out of the cafe for the both of us. As time went on the cafe got even busier
and the candy got pushed further and further on the back burner. It finally came to a point where there was no time to
make candy at all. That went on for about five years.
The cafe was becoming unbelievably popular and not just on the local highway. We did make candy and sell it in the cafe
but it was a very limited amount of varieties. By now I had worked up so many new recipes and had worked so hard on
getting ideas together to build this business that I was really wanting to try and get started, but the business in the cafe
kept growing.
Finally life took a turn and I had a nearly fatal operation and had to take months off to recover. It was during that time in
the hospital, when we all did not know if I was gonna make it or not, that I made a pac with God. I asked him to let me live
through this and if I did I would never take my candy for granted again. Ya see I have always believed it is a very special
gift. So right at the end of my recovery which was close to three months I made plans to attend my first candy convention
in Chicago. I promised myself I was going to find some way to get this thing going even as busy as we were.
I was still a bit weak as the day approached for me to leave for Chicago but I made a promise and I was going to keep it.
I was so excited about this show. It was the Midwest Retail Confectioners Show, a place that candy makers go to shop
for all the things used in our business or to show their stuff and sell their candies to retailers. It was wonderful and I
bought a lot of merchandise to get started. When you attend a show like that and you are around all these people in the
industry its just wonderful. The show lasted 3 days. I came home so motivated and that is when I got the ball rolling.
We hired more help in the cafe and we decided to put the candy business into some other buildings we owned in
Wellfleet. The health dept. came out and did an inspection and we were on our way. There were two buildings so we had
plenty of room to use one as a kitchen and the other to house materials like candy boxes, gift baskets, wrapping papers
and shipping materials. A walk in cooler was built to hold the chocolate and ingredients we had to make candy and also
to hold finished product made before it went out.
approaching having the cafe a year it was getting busy in there. Once again the candy was pretty much just made around
the holidays and a few boxes sold to businesses. We got so busy with the cafe I finally had to quit my job in North Platte
and we felt safe that we could make a living out of the cafe for the both of us. As time went on the cafe got even busier
and the candy got pushed further and further on the back burner. It finally came to a point where there was no time to
make candy at all. That went on for about five years.
The cafe was becoming unbelievably popular and not just on the local highway. We did make candy and sell it in the cafe
but it was a very limited amount of varieties. By now I had worked up so many new recipes and had worked so hard on
getting ideas together to build this business that I was really wanting to try and get started, but the business in the cafe
kept growing.
Finally life took a turn and I had a nearly fatal operation and had to take months off to recover. It was during that time in
the hospital, when we all did not know if I was gonna make it or not, that I made a pac with God. I asked him to let me live
through this and if I did I would never take my candy for granted again. Ya see I have always believed it is a very special
gift. So right at the end of my recovery which was close to three months I made plans to attend my first candy convention
in Chicago. I promised myself I was going to find some way to get this thing going even as busy as we were.
I was still a bit weak as the day approached for me to leave for Chicago but I made a promise and I was going to keep it.
I was so excited about this show. It was the Midwest Retail Confectioners Show, a place that candy makers go to shop
for all the things used in our business or to show their stuff and sell their candies to retailers. It was wonderful and I
bought a lot of merchandise to get started. When you attend a show like that and you are around all these people in the
industry its just wonderful. The show lasted 3 days. I came home so motivated and that is when I got the ball rolling.
We hired more help in the cafe and we decided to put the candy business into some other buildings we owned in
Wellfleet. The health dept. came out and did an inspection and we were on our way. There were two buildings so we had
plenty of room to use one as a kitchen and the other to house materials like candy boxes, gift baskets, wrapping papers
and shipping materials. A walk in cooler was built to hold the chocolate and ingredients we had to make candy and also
to hold finished product made before it went out.
In 1994 we sat down and started to plan what it was we wanted to do and how we wanted to operate the business. Jerry
and I both had route experience in sales so we decided that would be a better way to go. It would give a better chance in
person to visit with our customers on a monthly basis and also to watch how the product was being taken care of in the
stores. Some candies are made for the shelf but with gourmet chocolates that do not have preservatives and are very
delicate, an account has to really watch how they are handled, how they are rotated to maintain freshness so we assist
in all of this.
The question now was to try and figure out how we were going to pull off routes and run the restaurant at the same time.
So we hired a very good friend of ours who was going to take over the route as soon as we built it. Along with all this
planning of operations, we still all this time, were attending sessions and attaining guidance from the Food Processing
Center at the University. With their help we were learning about things involved in food processing that we did not know.
At this time we also purchased our food manufacturers liability insurance.
The cafe just stayed busy all the time and I had to still be there taking care of the things in the kitchen. I did all the baking
from scratch and since we only offered fresh made from scratch foods it was even more time consuming. We cut all our
own meat, our hamburger was fresh ground daily and never frozen so we picked it up everyday, made all the batters for
our battered foods, made all homemade salad dressings, baked croutons were fresh everyday, all the salads and the
produce to make tossed salads were cut fresh twice a day. All the potatoes>>>PEELED! All home made soups...it was
never ending the prep jobs.
So we decided to make it all work any way we could. Jerry started a small route through western Nebraska that took a
day to run. He made the initial sales calls and set up the accounts and then I went on the route after that and trained our
friend on what she would be doing. We delivered once a month and while there took the order for the next month. We had
a regular line of products we were trying with the accounts to see if they sold and also had a specialty line for each
holiday. It was working out quite well.
That went on for awhile and the route was growing. We decided in order to make it work really well we needed to get out
there and build more. So a decision was made to close the cafe one day a week to do this route. If we hustled we could
get it all done in one day. That did not go well with our cafe customers as the cafe had been open 7 days a week since we
bought it. But in order to work the candy and be really involved we had to be out there. The route got bigger and within a
year you needed two days to run it. So we took the chance and closed the cafe another day. This was not good.
Part of the problem with this whole thing was...we never expected the cafe to become so popular. It was bought simply
for its kitchen to pursue the candy business. It was never our dream to have a cafe, it was just to be able to make a living
and have that kitchen till we got the candy business up and running. Then the cafe building would be used to make candy.
After a year of running things like this we had to sit down and talk. The route was doing very good and so was the cafe. Its
very costly to get a product going and you have to make enough money to cover all the expenses of your buildings, the
cost of equipment, the insurance and all the cost of the route. It has to be worthwhile to do all this. With the cost of
insurance things were pretty high. We knew it was time to expand the routes. The cafe was now closed on Mondays and
Tuesdays so we had time to expand into another territory. It was pretty scary but the decision was made to venture into
the Denver market.
and I both had route experience in sales so we decided that would be a better way to go. It would give a better chance in
person to visit with our customers on a monthly basis and also to watch how the product was being taken care of in the
stores. Some candies are made for the shelf but with gourmet chocolates that do not have preservatives and are very
delicate, an account has to really watch how they are handled, how they are rotated to maintain freshness so we assist
in all of this.
The question now was to try and figure out how we were going to pull off routes and run the restaurant at the same time.
So we hired a very good friend of ours who was going to take over the route as soon as we built it. Along with all this
planning of operations, we still all this time, were attending sessions and attaining guidance from the Food Processing
Center at the University. With their help we were learning about things involved in food processing that we did not know.
At this time we also purchased our food manufacturers liability insurance.
The cafe just stayed busy all the time and I had to still be there taking care of the things in the kitchen. I did all the baking
from scratch and since we only offered fresh made from scratch foods it was even more time consuming. We cut all our
own meat, our hamburger was fresh ground daily and never frozen so we picked it up everyday, made all the batters for
our battered foods, made all homemade salad dressings, baked croutons were fresh everyday, all the salads and the
produce to make tossed salads were cut fresh twice a day. All the potatoes>>>PEELED! All home made soups...it was
never ending the prep jobs.
So we decided to make it all work any way we could. Jerry started a small route through western Nebraska that took a
day to run. He made the initial sales calls and set up the accounts and then I went on the route after that and trained our
friend on what she would be doing. We delivered once a month and while there took the order for the next month. We had
a regular line of products we were trying with the accounts to see if they sold and also had a specialty line for each
holiday. It was working out quite well.
That went on for awhile and the route was growing. We decided in order to make it work really well we needed to get out
there and build more. So a decision was made to close the cafe one day a week to do this route. If we hustled we could
get it all done in one day. That did not go well with our cafe customers as the cafe had been open 7 days a week since we
bought it. But in order to work the candy and be really involved we had to be out there. The route got bigger and within a
year you needed two days to run it. So we took the chance and closed the cafe another day. This was not good.
Part of the problem with this whole thing was...we never expected the cafe to become so popular. It was bought simply
for its kitchen to pursue the candy business. It was never our dream to have a cafe, it was just to be able to make a living
and have that kitchen till we got the candy business up and running. Then the cafe building would be used to make candy.
After a year of running things like this we had to sit down and talk. The route was doing very good and so was the cafe. Its
very costly to get a product going and you have to make enough money to cover all the expenses of your buildings, the
cost of equipment, the insurance and all the cost of the route. It has to be worthwhile to do all this. With the cost of
insurance things were pretty high. We knew it was time to expand the routes. The cafe was now closed on Mondays and
Tuesdays so we had time to expand into another territory. It was pretty scary but the decision was made to venture into
the Denver market.
We had experimented enough with the route in Nebraska to know that two things were going very well, by now we knew
what products sold the best and what lines moved around the holidays. So we felt we were ready to jump into a big
market like Denver. And so we did! The following year we started a route from home and stopped at accounts all the way
into Denver, we stayed there overnight on Sundays and Mondays and Tuesdays finished up and headed back home to
open the cafe on Wednesday mornings.
Things moved along pretty well in Denver and since Jerry and I had both lived there, he is originally from Denver, and I
had most of my career there, we really knew our way around. The route grew rapidly and going into Denver once a month
quickly turned into two trips a month and then three. I guess you could say that Denver was really where we learned
more about what we had and were selling. We learned from our customers who had a lot of experience in knowing what
the public was buying in chocolates. That is what really got us experienced in what products to sell on the route.
By 1996 we were in full swing, the candy routes were doing well, the cafe was doing well and so were sales of candy in
the cafe. Statewide newspaper coverage and some TV time got the word out about us all over. The routes were getting
larger and now we were shipping candy to Chicago also. Things were getting pretty crazy to say the least and by 1997
we could barely go anymore. We decided to put the cafe up for sale. The cafe just kept getting busier as people were
coming in from all over to eat with us and also buy our candies there in the diner. We had been offered a lot of wonderful
opportunities to make candy for some very large accounts, but with full operation of the cafe along with the candy routes
we were afraid we just had taken things as far as we could.
Finally in 2001 we made up our mind to move back to Chicago, my hometown. Chicago is a great city to sell candy in.
None of our properties sold so we left some of our equipment stored there and left everything for sale. After moving to
Chicago we decided to just take a year and rest before we started on the candy business. The move itself was quite a
chore. Working 100 work weeks does take its toll on a marriage and by the end of that year we went our separate ways.
Jerry stayed in Chicago and I ended up in North Carolina. I met a wonderful man and as time went on I came to live in
North Carolina and that is when everything took a huge turn.
what products sold the best and what lines moved around the holidays. So we felt we were ready to jump into a big
market like Denver. And so we did! The following year we started a route from home and stopped at accounts all the way
into Denver, we stayed there overnight on Sundays and Mondays and Tuesdays finished up and headed back home to
open the cafe on Wednesday mornings.
Things moved along pretty well in Denver and since Jerry and I had both lived there, he is originally from Denver, and I
had most of my career there, we really knew our way around. The route grew rapidly and going into Denver once a month
quickly turned into two trips a month and then three. I guess you could say that Denver was really where we learned
more about what we had and were selling. We learned from our customers who had a lot of experience in knowing what
the public was buying in chocolates. That is what really got us experienced in what products to sell on the route.
By 1996 we were in full swing, the candy routes were doing well, the cafe was doing well and so were sales of candy in
the cafe. Statewide newspaper coverage and some TV time got the word out about us all over. The routes were getting
larger and now we were shipping candy to Chicago also. Things were getting pretty crazy to say the least and by 1997
we could barely go anymore. We decided to put the cafe up for sale. The cafe just kept getting busier as people were
coming in from all over to eat with us and also buy our candies there in the diner. We had been offered a lot of wonderful
opportunities to make candy for some very large accounts, but with full operation of the cafe along with the candy routes
we were afraid we just had taken things as far as we could.
Finally in 2001 we made up our mind to move back to Chicago, my hometown. Chicago is a great city to sell candy in.
None of our properties sold so we left some of our equipment stored there and left everything for sale. After moving to
Chicago we decided to just take a year and rest before we started on the candy business. The move itself was quite a
chore. Working 100 work weeks does take its toll on a marriage and by the end of that year we went our separate ways.
Jerry stayed in Chicago and I ended up in North Carolina. I met a wonderful man and as time went on I came to live in
North Carolina and that is when everything took a huge turn.
The more time I spent looking around here at candies available, the more determined I became that perhaps we should
take a better look at this and re-think it. I called Jerry and told him to make a trip out here because I would like his
opinion on what he thinks we might be able to do and also if he would be interested in coming to work for me and
pursuing this candy thing one more time. We already had years of work invested in this, it would be ashamed to let that
all go. After a couple of weeks of looking around the three of us talked things over and decided it was worth giving it
another shot, the game plan was to open a restaurant first and then get the candy up and running. To add to all of this
was the fact that Jerry's daughter from a previous marriage lives out here and so they could spend time together.
First we had to move everything from Chicago, some of the equipment was there and then we had to make a trip to
Nebraska to get the rest of the equipment, it was where all the large pieces were still stored in property we had back
there. We also loaded up all our cafe equipment and everything we had to run our cafe so we could open something
here.
Next we had to put all the properties we had up for sale and in the process we started looking for a location to open a
new restaurant. We were also looking for a house to buy that was big enough to open a large commercial kitchen in.
This time there would be no retail shop to start with, I mainly wanted to focus on the wholesale end of the business, so
looking for a house that had room enough to build a commercial kitchen in it was ideal. Twenty four months went by
pretty quickly and at the end of that time we had sold all our properties and landed just the right house to build a
commercial kitchen in. By that time we had also come to our senses that trying to have a restaurant and the candy
business together was no way to start this new beginning. So now the restaurant idea was gone and now we were only
going to make candy.
As time went on and we were trying to pull everything together I was working on developing all new lines for my new
location. All along while I had the business before I was making notes of where I wanted to take my candy business and
its future if we ever started again. Now there was time to pull out all these notes and merge them together with all the
new ideas and get busy developing some new lines. I started working on an idea for a web site, we had not had one
before. Before the business was mainly wholesale and retailed in our restaurant.
I knew for sure this time I needed a web site because with all the accounts we had before the retail end customer never
really saw all of the product line as with wholesaling your customers select what they like and think they can sell in their
business so the retail end customer never sees all the items you actually offer.
It took awhile just to learn to build a web site. More and more time was spent and the web site and new product lines for
both the wholesale and the web site were coming together. I designed a whole new line of candies and all of the Dixies
are new and so is the creation of the "Carolina Patties".
take a better look at this and re-think it. I called Jerry and told him to make a trip out here because I would like his
opinion on what he thinks we might be able to do and also if he would be interested in coming to work for me and
pursuing this candy thing one more time. We already had years of work invested in this, it would be ashamed to let that
all go. After a couple of weeks of looking around the three of us talked things over and decided it was worth giving it
another shot, the game plan was to open a restaurant first and then get the candy up and running. To add to all of this
was the fact that Jerry's daughter from a previous marriage lives out here and so they could spend time together.
First we had to move everything from Chicago, some of the equipment was there and then we had to make a trip to
Nebraska to get the rest of the equipment, it was where all the large pieces were still stored in property we had back
there. We also loaded up all our cafe equipment and everything we had to run our cafe so we could open something
here.
Next we had to put all the properties we had up for sale and in the process we started looking for a location to open a
new restaurant. We were also looking for a house to buy that was big enough to open a large commercial kitchen in.
This time there would be no retail shop to start with, I mainly wanted to focus on the wholesale end of the business, so
looking for a house that had room enough to build a commercial kitchen in it was ideal. Twenty four months went by
pretty quickly and at the end of that time we had sold all our properties and landed just the right house to build a
commercial kitchen in. By that time we had also come to our senses that trying to have a restaurant and the candy
business together was no way to start this new beginning. So now the restaurant idea was gone and now we were only
going to make candy.
As time went on and we were trying to pull everything together I was working on developing all new lines for my new
location. All along while I had the business before I was making notes of where I wanted to take my candy business and
its future if we ever started again. Now there was time to pull out all these notes and merge them together with all the
new ideas and get busy developing some new lines. I started working on an idea for a web site, we had not had one
before. Before the business was mainly wholesale and retailed in our restaurant.
I knew for sure this time I needed a web site because with all the accounts we had before the retail end customer never
really saw all of the product line as with wholesaling your customers select what they like and think they can sell in their
business so the retail end customer never sees all the items you actually offer.
It took awhile just to learn to build a web site. More and more time was spent and the web site and new product lines for
both the wholesale and the web site were coming together. I designed a whole new line of candies and all of the Dixies
are new and so is the creation of the "Carolina Patties".
After moving into the new house it was time to start building the commercial kitchen. It took months of work, we
started with an unfinished lower level of the house. First I had the Department of Agriculture come out for an initial walk
through to go over the specs for the new kitchen. I knew how to go about all this from the experience with the
operation in Nebraska. Then before the work got started we attended the National Confectioners Show in Philadelphia,
new equipment was purchased in order to produce greater amounts of product, new boxes were ordered, orders were
placed with companies for supplies and some other large pieces of equipment were bought.
After returning home the work got started! As the crew started building the kitchen, I went to work on the web site and
designing of the lines. It was very inspirational to me to be able to be in such a beautiful place to start over with my
candies. I'm absolutely thrilled with my new location. From its beautiful eastern shores through the rolling hills of the
Piedmont onto the breathtaking mountains of its western edge, North Carolina has so much to offer. The history of its
past along side being the Home of Nascar.
In the excitement of starting over the first change I made was the name of my candy business. My Father was such an
influence on my appreciation for food and the quality of it. I learned so much from him and all of my food industry family
about being responsible when preparing food for the public, about the appearance of food and the taste and how to
bring these all together. So for starters, in honor of my Dad, I changed the name from "Debbie's Delights Gourmet
Chocolates" to "Collins Chocolates". In being so happy with my new fiance and all he did in bringing me to the beautiful
state of North Carolina, and the support he has given me in this venture, I placed an outline of the state of North
Carolina on our candy boxes, for here will be the start of all the dreams I had in the past for what I could offer people to
enjoy. Here in North Carolina, will be the start of all the new ideas!
We hope you will enjoy our candies!
started with an unfinished lower level of the house. First I had the Department of Agriculture come out for an initial walk
through to go over the specs for the new kitchen. I knew how to go about all this from the experience with the
operation in Nebraska. Then before the work got started we attended the National Confectioners Show in Philadelphia,
new equipment was purchased in order to produce greater amounts of product, new boxes were ordered, orders were
placed with companies for supplies and some other large pieces of equipment were bought.
After returning home the work got started! As the crew started building the kitchen, I went to work on the web site and
designing of the lines. It was very inspirational to me to be able to be in such a beautiful place to start over with my
candies. I'm absolutely thrilled with my new location. From its beautiful eastern shores through the rolling hills of the
Piedmont onto the breathtaking mountains of its western edge, North Carolina has so much to offer. The history of its
past along side being the Home of Nascar.
In the excitement of starting over the first change I made was the name of my candy business. My Father was such an
influence on my appreciation for food and the quality of it. I learned so much from him and all of my food industry family
about being responsible when preparing food for the public, about the appearance of food and the taste and how to
bring these all together. So for starters, in honor of my Dad, I changed the name from "Debbie's Delights Gourmet
Chocolates" to "Collins Chocolates". In being so happy with my new fiance and all he did in bringing me to the beautiful
state of North Carolina, and the support he has given me in this venture, I placed an outline of the state of North
Carolina on our candy boxes, for here will be the start of all the dreams I had in the past for what I could offer people to
enjoy. Here in North Carolina, will be the start of all the new ideas!
We hope you will enjoy our candies!
