We recently connected with Laurie Hudgins and have shared our conversation below.

Laurie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

There are always growing pains with starting a business. You keep thinking to yourself, “Once we grow and make that next leap up we won’t have to worry about our *insert growing pains*.” And, of course, it’s not long after taking your leap that you begin to encounter growing pains of a different kind. It’s all part of growth and expansion.
That’s what led us to take a huge leap ……….to open a storefront………during the first year of Covid.
We’d outgrown the hourly rental kitchen that we’d been using and were ready to take that leap of a kitchen of our very own. The perfect opportunity fell into our laps. Not only did we find a kitchen in a great location, historic downtown Van Alstyne, but it came with a storefront, too! I was already equal parts exhilarated and terrified to take on my own kitchen, but also take on being a shopkeeper? Talk about risk!
I’m sure there were people questioning my sanity for opening a store during the middle of Covid. Heck, I was questioning my sanity too! But, here we are 18 months later and I’m just proud as punch of our little specialty foods shop, The Jolly Good Shop where we offer jolly good caramel and other mighty fine foods!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

What began as a means to provide fresh goat milk for my family evolved into what I like to call “the accidental caramel company” as I began making caramel with surplus milk from my herd of dairy goats. I would give it away as gifts to family and friends. After a few years, I was finally convinced to begin selling at the local farmers’ markets. Farmers’ markets are still a big part of our business model. You can find us locally attending markets at Lucas, and both Good Local Market locations, Whiterock Lake and Lakewood Village.

I’m a self-taught confectioner that feels passionately about using real food ingredients to make really good food. Not only is Jolly Acres Caramel made with goat milk, but just as important, we never use corn syrup in any of our products. Instead, we’ve partnered up with a local honey farm and use clover honey and cane sugars to do all the sweet-talking in the caramels.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Our caramels are handmade and handcrafted, not manufactured. They are made in small batches in copper cauldrons using wooden spoons to occasionally give a stir. We hand wrap each caramel. There isn’t a manufacturer or copacker that I would trust to go to the lengths we do in ensuring our product is made exactly as we do. Our production takes place in our kitchen located at The Jolly Good Shop. Our primary production team consists of myself and my full-time pastry chef, Lexi Geronimo.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Not only is Lexi my full-time pastry chef, but she’s also my business partner. She has been with me from the very beginning when we were wrapping caramels at my kitchen table. She has believed in my vision and been on board with my commitment to using real foods each step of the way. She invested in this grand adventure with such hard work, and dedication that I felt it was only right to invest in her, so that’s why I made her my business partner. Lexi is much more than a business partner, though. She’s practically family!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jollyacresfarms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jollyacrescaramel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JollyAcresFarms

Image Credits
Lizzy Trauer Photography Edible DFW