Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Spindler.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jeremy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I began making candies & chocolates with my mom as a kid, and have loved sweets ever since. As an adult, I ventured into the world of caramels, brittles, and some other sweets, purely as a hobby. In the winter of 2012, I decided I wanted to spend the season making lots of candy and started selling candy for the holidays to friends and co-workers.
Shortly thereafter I decided to look into making it a legit business and I got my home kitchen licensed for production. After running the business out of my house for about 4 years, and testing the waters at Farmer’s Markets and special events, it was time to move into a commercial space. We’ve been open at our location in North Cambridge for a bit over two years now.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s been quite an adventure, actually. We had some hiccups with zoning and permits through the city, but in the end, it all got worked out. From talking to other business owners I got the impression that our experience was pretty common.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Spindler Confections – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Here at Spindler’s we hand make candies including an extended line of Chocolates, Caramels, Brittles, and Pate de Fruits, and we just ventured into the world of fudge. We have many more products we hope to bring out over the next few years, but we’re taking it one thing at a time.
While I started out primarily making caramels, our chocolates have without a doubt become our best seller. We do a variety of caramel fillings, fruit creams, tea infusions, & boozy chocolates such as a Smokey Scotch, and Honey Bourbon.
I am especially proud of the fact that we make our products with virtually no machinery all by hand. We are a tiny company with just myself and 2 part-time employees, both of whom extend their hours during the holiday season. Additionally, we don’t use any artificial colors or flavors in our products, with the sole exception of a couple products that contain Fluff.
While our products look nice, and we’ve gotten a lot of compliments on our packaging, we don’t “strive for perfection” as many business owners do. When everything is done by hand you are going to get some air bubbles in the chocolates, and since we cut everything by hand items such as our caramels and fudge aren’t perfectly square like they just came out of a factory. For me, it reflects the small scale of my business and adds a bit of charm that you don’t get from typical candy companies.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
At the moment, we’re focusing on building the storefront by adding new products, expanding our little candy museum, and searching for additional candy-themed gift items such as books & ornaments.
In the future, we are eyeing a possible expansion into the Boston Public Market to get more of the downtown business & tourists. But that is probably a good year or two off if we move forward with it at all. We’ve grown very organically at a pace we can manage, and I’m a bit worried about trying to grow too fast, or force growth through expansions that aren’t really warranted. So, for the time being, our little shop on Mass Ave suits us just fine. Plus, we have a lot of room to grow in this current location.
Pricing:
- We have products ranging from a couple dollars up to about $100.00 for our holiday gift crates. Here are some examples:
- 2 Pack of Chocolate Caramel Pretzels: $2.50
- 6 Oz. Box of Salted Caramels (variety of flavors) $9.00
- 4 Pc. Box of our Brown Liquor Chocolates: $7.00
- 24 Pc. Box of Assorted Chocolates: $45.0
- 1 Lb. Box of Caramel Nut Clusters: $28.50
- 7 Oz. Box of Brittle (variety of flavors): $9.00
Contact Info:
- Address: 2257 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02140
- Website: www.spindlerconfections.com
- Phone: 617-714-4871
- Email: Spindlerconfections@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Spindler-Confections-254735901269399/
- Twitter: @spindlerconfect
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/spindler-confections-cambridge?osq=spindler+confections
Image Credit:
Chris Goetchius
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