Starting a fudge business - part 2

We've made just over three tonnes of fudge from our cottage fudge kitchen since writing starting a fudge business - part one. That's my excuse for not getting round to writing part two until now, anyway!

To pick up from where I left off, I returned home from Worcester farmers' market on a mission to find a fudge recipe to accompany my range of handmade biscuits. Naturally, I turned straight to my trusty old cookbook that has been my 'go to' book for bakes and toffees since I was a child. There were several recipes to choose from, so I began with one containing just three simple ingredients - sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Oh my goodness! This turned out to be the most wonderful batch of fudge that I'd eaten in years, and it would soon become my traditional butter fudge, the base recipe for all of my other flavours.

I can honestly say that this first batch of fudge turning out so darn good, was more luck than judgement. Fudge making really isn't the easiest thing to master, and this recipe relies on precision to keep the product consistent. In short, fudge has to be boiled to temperature and then cooled and creamed to form tiny sugar crystals that gives it the melt in the mouth consistency that we all love. It is very easy to under or overcook fudge, resulting in either too soft or too crumbly a consistency. A good thermometer is essential, and believe me, they are few and far between - I got through them like no tomorrow! But sometimes it just went wrong, and occasionally a batch would turn out grainy and I just didn't know why. It could have been due to the weather or a stray grain of sugar or two creeping into the mixture during the creaming process. It really is a science in itself, but you will be pleased to hear that no fudge was wasted during these early days of making mistakes. I melted it all back down with a drop of milk and bottled it to make fudge sauce. In fact, the fudge sauce became so popular with my customers that I still make it today - no mishaps required!

On my return to Worcester farmers' market, I took a few batches of my traditional butter fudge to sell, as well as some tasters to lure the customers in. I was so pleased to see everyone enjoying it, and I sold out in no time at all. In between markets, I did a little experimenting with flavours and returned with rum and raisin, stem ginger and Irish cream fudge sprinkled with dark chocolate. They all went down a storm and from then on, the family of fudge flavours grew. The time finally came when I decided to stop making and selling biscuits, and concentrate only on making delicious fudge. 

I found local suppliers for ingredients and packaging, and grew the business very slowly and within my budget. I printed all of my own labelling from my home computer, making sure that they comply with food regulations, and began selling into farm shops and delicatessens as well as continuing with markets and larger food festivals. I enjoy offering potential customers a taste of my fudge. People will often turn down the offer of a taste, saying that they don't like it, but I have a terrible habit of insisting that they try it. I love to see the smile on some of those faces when they realise that proper fudge is actually delicious, and go off happily with a bundle of three bags!

In 2012 I entered both my traditional butter and stem ginger fudge into the Great Taste Awards, and both flavours were awarded with a coveted star. I was so delighted that I cried! It had been a hard old slog to get to where I was, but the awards made those first few years of being a fudgetier (that's not an actual word, by the way, but I like it!) so much more worth it.

In 2013, I had the opportunity to pitch my products to Westmorland, the company behind Tebay Services - the feature of the popular TV series, A Lake District Farm Shop. They were to open another motorway farm shop to be known as Gloucester Services situated on the M5. The Northbound shop was opening within months, and Southbound to open the following year. I felt honoured that my fudge was accepted by the talented food buyers of Westmorland, and it all finally became real to see my products being put out on the shelves the day before the grand opening. The orders were mammoth to what I expected, and my fudge continues to sell well there today. In fact, I received a phone call only this week from a gentleman wishing to order fudge directly from me, because for the past year he's been travelling one hundred mile round trips to Gloucester to stock up on his favourite flavours!

Supplying fudge to Westmorland was a game changer. I looked to improving my packaging and thought about ways to scale up production. I was stirring sixteen pans of fudge a day in 2lb batches, producing only ten bags of fudge per batch. Each batch would take two hours to make, and the pans would be staggered at fifteen minute intervals. It was all becoming a bit too much for me - I couldn't leave the kitchen for hours without fear of burning fudge, and unfortunately, that did unavoidably happen.

It was September 2015 after a super busy and exhausting summer that I had a bit of a crisis. I returned home from Ludlow Food Festival (my busiest and last festival of the season) with just one bag of fudge - I can still picture that bag of fudge now. I remember looking at it, and looking at the list of shop orders amounting well into their hundreds that needed to be delivered in just five days, and it was near impossible. Yes, I sound like I'm whinging. I should be happy that people want to buy my product, and really, I am. I'm over the moon! But it was make or break. I couldn't go on like this and I had two options; One, pack up and get a job (not on your nelly), or two, drive to Brighton to look at a fudge kettle that if I decided to order, would need importing from America and will require a business loan. My main concern here was being able to multiply my recipe to make bigger batches, resulting in the same delicious fudge that I had been making for the past six years.

It was a huge gamble, but obviously you can guess which option I took. I'll tell you all about it after I've made another few tonnes of fudge. 😉

Ruby. x

If you would like to try our fudge, you can buy any three flavours for just £12.50 here.