Jack Bessudo, Co-Founder Tamalitoz by SugaroxHe was traveling for his promoting job when he discovered a latest calling: candy-making.
One visit to a candy store in Sydney, Australia, in particular sparked Bessudo’s interest in the craft. “I just fell in love with the whole process,” he says Entrepreneur“So when I saw that, I thought to myself, One day I will learn the art of candy making [and] then open one of those stores where you can tell people how they make and develop new flavors.”
Image Source: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
In 2010, Bessudo quit his 9-to-5 job to delve into the world of candy. Although he was adept at branding and marketing, he had no idea learn how to make candy. Determined to learn, Bessudo brought an expert from Australia to Mexico City, where he was living at the time. He then took a three-month “candy-making crash course” in Bessudo’s cousin’s empty apartment in Coyoacán.
“I had a lot of blisters on my fingers, but it was magical,” Bessudo recalls. “It was the first time I could work with my hands and be creative in that way, as opposed to working in an office or an agency, where you have to work a lot with your head.”
It was during this time that Bessudo met his current husband and co-founder, Declan Simmons. Although Simmons was based in the U.K. at the time, he was his go-to person from the starting. According to Bessudo, Simmons led the analytical points of the business, while he focused on the brand message and the product itself.
“When we opened the store, it became a destination of sorts, a tourist attraction.”
Just six months after Bessudo began learning learn how to make candy, he and Simmons opened their first store in a small Mexico City strip mall near Bessudo’s home. They called it Sugarox Candy Studio. “When we opened the store, it became a destination, a tourist attraction,” Bessudo recalls. “So people would come and watch us make candy, which was just a lot of fun.”
From the starting, Bessudo and Simmons were committed to creating a different sort of sweet. The duo envisioned a product that might achieve an unexpected balance between the sweet, spicy and tart Mexican sweets of Bessudo’s childhood and Simmons’ traditional British sweets.
It was a family penchant for pushing boundaries and entrepreneurship. Bessudo’s grandfather, Isaac Bessudo, known in the U.S. as “Jack,” owned the Jarritos soft drink company. Bessudo remembered hearing stories about the development of the tamarind flavor in the drink. Tamarind is a fruit that grows in a bean-like pod; it incorporates a nutrient-rich, fibrous pulp and may have antioxidant and antiviral effectsamong other medicinal properties.
People told Grandpa Bessudo that a tamarind-flavored soda “would be crazy.” The product became one of Jarritos’ bestsellers.
So Bessudo and Simmons got here up with an revolutionary treat: Tamalitoz, naturally flavored fruit candies filled with chili lime and a dash of sea salt. The product got its name after a woman who watched the two-hour production process at Sugarox Candy Studio said the pillow-shaped candies looked like “beautiful tamalitos” or “little tamales,” Bessudo recalls.
Image Source: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
“It’s like a crunchy explosion of spicy flavor, and I think that’s so unique in the confectionery segment,” Bessudo says. “I feel like even if you’ve eaten Tamalitoz a hundred times, you’ll still get that wow effect every time you bite into it, and that’s how much I believe in this product.”
“I didn’t know how a premium Mexican sweets brand would be received.”
Sugarox’s Tamalitoz now comes in a number of fruity flavors, including “Bite Me Blood Orange,” “Lip-Smacking Mango,” “Pineapple Galore,” “Divine Watermelon,” and more — even “Tantalizing Tamarind.”
After running the company out of Mexico for several years, expanding into hotels and gift shops, Bessudo and Simmons desired to see how the product would perform in the U.S.
That’s how they finished the first batch of Tamalitoz sachets; Bessudo used his marketing background to create packaging that reflected the Mexico he got here from, “which is very modern, cosmopolitan, bright and fun.” Then they packed the sachets in a suitcase and headed to the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago.
“I was nervous,” Bessudo admits. “I didn’t know how a premium Mexican candy brand would be received. I mean, Mexican candy isn’t traditionally considered a premium product. So here we were, entering this new space. It was something new for us and for the category.”
Bessudo and Simmons, nevertheless, were pleasantly surprised: their sweets were a success.
Image Source: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
“It’s so much fun and [great] to feel the love of our trading partners.”
In retrospect, Bessudo believes Tamalitoz got here onto the market at the perfect time when people desired to see a shift away from traditional products in the confectionery department.
Michaels was the first major U.S. retailer to introduce Tamalitoz. The candy is now distributed locally and globally in a number of grocery stores and online retailers, including Whole Foods and Target. The co-founders have expanded the product offering to incorporate Tamalitoz ChewLows (a low-sugar option), Tamalitoz Chili Pops and Tamalitoz Palomitaz, a “Tex-Mex gourmet popcorn.”
The story of Tamalitoz by Sugarox is stuffed with learnings from the very starting – from the early months of candy production, through partnerships with large retailers, and onwards.
Image Source: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
Additionally, while the company “didn’t make much of a fuss” about the incontrovertible fact that Tamalitoz is LGBTQ-owned and operates in Mexico, which Bessudo said can still be very conservative and traditional, it has embraced that identity more in the U.S. — as have its peers. Texas-based supermarket chain HEB invites Tamalitoz to participate in its LGBT Pride events in Austin every 12 months.
“It’s so much fun and [great] “to feel the love of our trading partners,” adds Bessudo.
For budding entrepreneurs trying to bring their very own creativity to the snack market, Bessudo’s advice is to first “have a clear vision of what you want your brand to be” — and develop a product you truly imagine in.
“If you have a product and you believe in the brand, there are a lot of ways to promote it without breaking the bank,” Bessudo says. “You can do a lot of things online now. If you want to take it to the next level, trade shows are amazing. They’re great ways to reach buyers. And they’re also a good way to get people to test your product—people who are trying hundreds of different products all the time.”