If you follow us, you know we LOVE jonboy caramels! They have the most interesting flavors, great consistency and now they have caramel sauce! These make for some wonderful gifts for coworkers, friends, family and strangers.
Where does your passion for food come from?
I am passionate about anything that is made well, especially from someone I can meet face to face. Appreciation for quality food is something that came to me somewhat later on and has only evolved since I have been able to meet so many other local, quality artisans at events and farmers markets. I believe that the more small local companies a community has, the closer knit it becomes.
Tell us about your culinary journey.
In 2009, we came together with the idea of creating the finest caramels with the very best ingredients we could find. I had tried wonderfully rich caramels in Europe, but could find nothing like that in the Seattle area. We started out producing in our own kitchens, but quickly found that we were outgrowing the cramped spaces and rented space in a commissary kitchen and eventually our own commercial kitchen. With the exposure of our products at local farmers markets, we quickly grew and were able to get our caramels in more and more stores throughout the Northwest. It’s hard to believe it has been 9 years now but we still love what we do!
Where is your favorite place to eat?
In Seattle, I would have to say Walrus and Carpenter for Oysters or Carta de Oaxaca for fantastic Mexican food
Where do you source your ingredients?
Many of our ingredients come from local vendors such as Hayton and Sidhu Farms for organic berries and Pacific Distillery for Absinthe in our Absinthe with Black Salt Caramels
Tell us about a new product you are working on.
We just finished our new Fleur de Sel caramel sauce that we are very proud of! Wonderful on Ice cream, apples and even in coffee!
What will our fans find at your booth this fall?
Fleur de Sel, Absinthe, and Molasses Ginger (fall seasonal) caramels as well as Fleur de Sel caramel sauce
What are your goals for your business in the next year?
We hope to expand our offerings to a larger market outside the northwest and come out with some new and exiting flavors for our customers to try.
What was your biggest challenge when starting out?
Each stage of our growth has had it’s new set of challenges. Starting out, I would have to say our biggest challenge was figuring out how to drastically increase the size of our caramel batches while not compromising quality and time.
What’s your favorite part of this food movement?
I love that there are so many smaller, quality producers in the Northwest that are on similar journeys as us. We have been able to collaborate and give and receive valuable information that has been crucial to our continued success.
What’s the best part of your job?
I love that we have created a product from scratch that customers crave and being a part of the wonderful Seattle specialty foods community.
