Marshmallows!
Posted: November 29, 2010 Filed under: announcements, Products, shop Leave a comment »
Hello all. I told you we were going to have multiple surprise for you in December– so surprise again– one is ready NOW. I am so pleased to introduce to you the two newest items in the Fig & Kindle shop: Chamomile Honey Vanilla marshmallows and Rum Spiced Molasses marshmallows.
I was very hesitant about adding marshmallows to the shop for two reasons: 1) everyone seems to be trying it and 2) despite having worked with them for years, I have never been able to make decent ones without corn syrup. I am pleased to say that after much experimentation we have two marshmallows ready to go, free of corn syrup, and hopefully providing a much needed level of sophistication to the marshmallow market out there.
I must say, I usually don’t toot my own horn (too much in public), but the chamomile marshmallows are out of this world. I have been eating them for two days wondering what kind of magic fairy must have fallen into the pot with them– they taste BUTTERY — like chamomile ice cream with a delicate drizzle of honey over the top. Not at all cloyingly sweet as so many marshmallows are. I can only imagine it is the flavor balance between sweet honey, herbal chamomile, and creamy vanilla.
Check them out in the shop!
Pondering Packaging: Unpackaged
Posted: September 8, 2010 Filed under: shop Leave a comment »I have a secret love of packaging design: brightly colored boxes and tins that merrily fill the shelves of stores, soap boxes, candy wrappers, and wine bottles…you name the product and someone has adorned it with beautiful design. I hate to admit that because here at Fig & Kindle we have a strict policy against unnecessary packaging. We see no point in wrapping brittles in cellophane, a box, packing peanuts, and another box. We merely use food-safe cellophane and a single shipping box filled with (recycled) newsprint cushioning. This has been an important decision for our growing business and puts us in a difficult place as we try to attract customers online with the lure of our hand-crafted candies alone. Our candies are their own advertising inside clear wrappers.
Packaging, while lovely, is a major source of pollution on multiple levels. And while I would so love to go and buy signature boxes for Fig & Kindle goods, I cannot bear the thoughts of wasted paper, bleaching pulp, toxic dyes, and not to mention the millions of pounds of packaging that go into landfills each year. For those who are not convinced: just think of the baby turtles and seagulls that eat the plastic bits that are so abundant in our oceans and perish shortly afterward.
But there is an upside to this. Because we cannot rely on packaging to lure customers we must do it with the artistry we put into our products. It’s kind of bad-ass, you know? We’re reworking our packaging a little bit right now and the guiding philosophy is that we don’t need to hide our candies behind wrappers; they’re stunning on their own, they sell themselves, we have nothing to hide.
That said, I’d like to give a shout out to an amazing store in London that has taken this philosophy to heart. You can imaging how Unpackaged does it’s business: Big bins of loose beans and grain and spices, barrels of veggies and fruits without plastic bands or boxes. Customers bring their own containers from home and fill up! Check out their website or this excellent blog post from We Heart.
