We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samuel & Coralee Jenkins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Samuel & Coralee , thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

When Sam was a kid growing up in New Orleans, his father Harry Lucas had a candy truck selling various types of candy and snacks. As a result he learned how to sell treats, and more importantly, he was taught how to make pralines also known as pecan candy. Two years ago Sam started thinking about those times regularly. It was as if an awakening of those memories of sharing time with his father and making the candy began to flood in. It was these memories that stirred up the desire to make the pralines again. We want to leave a legacy of candy making to our children because we knew that the candy was special.
But it didn’t stop there.He wanted to share this candy with everyone he met… even the world

In New Orleans we are Candy People Sam enjoys making pralines, because like his father, not only does it fill the need to provide love, but it also put’s a smile on peoples’ faces when they know their favorite treat is nearby.
you can say he is passionate because when you love what you do, it can never be work to you. In Houston and New Orleans people would ask him to make pralines for birthdays, showers, weddings, and some folks would request some just to have for themselves.

Samuel & Coralee , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The day we realized we were going to make this company a full-time business was when one day we were asked to make some pralines for an event. Everyone loved the candy and said we needed to selling them in stores.
The next day my wife spoke with her best friend Chanelle’ Harris, she encouraged us to start the business. She said that we had been making these pralines for almost 2years and now was the time for us to sell this candy to the world. Three days after that conversation, we started Peanut”s Pralines New Orleans Original”,
Being here in Houston we wanted to bring authentic New Orleans style Pralines to the area .
We spent a lot of time developing and researching the business, but most importantly, we wanted to create a brand for our family to pass down to future generations.
We always laugh when we’re asked if there are peanuts in the candy. Our name comes from Sam’s grandmother Cecile Eugene who as a child gave him the nickname Peanut. We decided to honor that nickname for the love our family, and especially for the love of the pralines.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my business partner and wife Coralee when i was twelve years old.We lived across the street from one another. Our connection was magic as it is today. Coralee runs the daily operations of our business and we work very well together.
She just enjoys telling me what to do.
Sam has always been a good provider for our family and has supported me in my own business endeavors .Helping him make the candy was just another activity that i simply enjoyed doing with him. Since this has become a full-time business, it has not only given us another financial avenue to provide for our family, but it gave us a space tp create something together .I could have never imagine having so much fun doing this with each other.Its the smile on his face that gives me joy when we’re making the candy together.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

New Orleans is a word-of -mouth City .There are places back home that need no advertising because when we like something , we will definitely get the word out.It has been amazing to get the testimonies from new customers who tried our candy because a friend of theirs brought some into work or a social gathering one day. The social media testimonies that we’ve been getting from people here in Houston makes us feel like the hard work is very rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: Peanutspralines.com
• Instagram: peanutpralines
• Facebook: Peanut Pralines

Image Credits
Behind The Lenz Media Photographer Bernard Lee Realty Group