“Candy is absolutely an affordable luxury. Because it’s affordable, people buy it,” says Mike Schmid. That creates a sweet spot for his family’s firm, York’s Wolfgang Candy Company. The 88-year-old manufacturer has floated above recent economic trends by honing a niche market supplying private label items for grocers like Whole Foods, Giant Eagle and Kroger and mass retailers like CVS. Since June, it’s hired 40 more people.
Wolfgang recently spent $800,000 to upgrade production equipment on one of its lines, about half coming from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Manufacturers Equipment Loan Fund. The new gear includes robots affectionately named Lucy and Ethel in honor of the 1952 “Job Switching” episode of I Love Lucy. At the same time, its private label business has grown, as it supplies items like European-style truffle cookies and chocolate-covered berries to chain stores nationwide.
“Our market for our own branded products is primarily the northeast U.S.,” says Schmid, a member of the fourth generation to run Wolfgang’s. “Our private label market is nationwide.”
For Wolfgang, which formerly marketed to fund-raising groups, the move beyond single-source sales has jump-started earnings. Schmid says he expects 2009 revenue to increase by 30 percent over last year.
Source: Mike Schmid
Writer: Chris O’Toole
