Big Interview
An artisan confectionery brand that stands out from the rest
For this month’s Big Interview, Kiran Grewal sits down with Fudge Kitchen MD, Sian Holt, who tells Kennedy’s Confection all about the brand’s sustainability plans, company ethos and how they celebrated 39 years in confectionery
Give us a background on Fudge Kitchen. When and where did it start?
Back in 1982 my parents knew an American called Jim Garrahy. He owned a fudge business that he wanted to expand, so asked me to set up a shop in the UK. We opened the first Fudge Kitchen shop in Blackpool in the 1980’s. It was such a success that we soon expanded into Bath, York and Canterbury. I took over as UK MD in 1995, and we embarked on the journey that has got us to where we are today. Thanks to our amazing people and delicious fudge, we survived two recessions in the 80’s and 90’s, we more than doubled the range of flavours and continued to establish new branches. Just after the millennium I took the business online, and we began trading at shows and events. In 2010 the call to wholesale our product had become too loud to ignore, but our traditional slab fudge was freshly made with a short shelf life. We began product testing a new longer life fudge range, that was still handmade in small batches using natural ingredients. Our butter fudge launched in 2011 and we’ve continued to innovate ever since.
What does sustainability mean to you and to the business? At Fudge Kitchen we are for people and the planet. We believe our products should not only taste good but feel
6 Kennedy’s Confection June 2022
KennedysConfection.com
good too. For me, sustainability is about ensuring that we can continue to grow steadily, whilst making a conscious effort to reduce our environmental impact in every aspect of the business. Last year we developed an internal ‘Green Team’ to tackle sustainability head on and make sure that the planet is at the forefront of every decision we make, no matter how big or small.
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