Jack Bessudo, co-founder of Tamalitos by Sugaroxhe was traveling for his advertisements work when he discovered another calling: the production of sweets.
A visit to a sweet shop in Sydney, Australia, in particular piqued Bessudo's interest in the craft. “I just fell in love with the whole process,” he says The entrepreneur. “So when I saw him, I thought to myself, One day, I'll learn the art of making sweets (and) then I'll open one of these shops where you can share with people how it's made and develop new tastes.”
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
In 2010, Bessudo left him 9-5 to delve into the world of sweets. Although he was skilled at branding and marketing, he didn't know the first thing about making candy. Determined to learn, Bessudo brought an expert from Australia to Mexico City, where he was stationed at the time. A three-month “crash course in cake making” followed in Bessudo's cousin's empty apartment in Coyoacán.
“There were a lot of blisters on my fingers, but it was magical,” Bessudo remembers. “For the first time, I've been able to work with my hands and be creative that way versus being in an office or agency environment where you have to work a lot with your head.”
It was also around this time that Bessudo met his now husband and co-founder, Declan Simmons. Although Simmons was living in the UK at the time, he was a sounding board from the start. According to Bessudo, Simmons took the lead on the analytical aspects of the business as he progressed to brand messages and the product itself.
“When we opened the store, it became kind of a destination, a tourist attraction.”
Just six months after Bessudo's confectionary training began, he and Simmons opened their first storefront in a small Mexico City mall near Bessudo's home. They called it Sugarox Candy Studio. “When we opened the store, it became a kind of destination, a tourist attraction,” Bessudo recalls. “So people would come and watch us make candy, which was a lot of fun.”
From the beginning, Bessudo and Simmons were committed to making a different kind of candy. The pair anticipated one product that would strike an unexpected balance between the sweet, spicy and tangy Mexican treats from Bessudo's childhood and the traditional British treats from Simmons.
It was a boundary-pushing entrepreneurial streak that ran in the family. Bessudo's grandfather, Isaac Bessudo, who went by “Jack” in the US, owned the Jarritos soft drink company. Bessudo recalled hearing stories about developing the drink's tamarind flavor. Tamarind is a fruit that grows in a bean-like pod; contains a fibrous pulp rich in nutrients and may have antioxidant and antiviral effectsamong other medicinal properties.
People told Bessudo's grandfather that the tamarind-flavored soft drink “would be crazy.” The product went on to become one of Jarrito's best sellers.
So Bessudo and Simmons came up with one INNOVATIVE treat: Tamalitos, naturally flavored fruit candies filled with hot lime and a pinch of sea salt. The product got its name after a woman watched the two-hour assembly process at Sugarox Candy Studio and said the pillow-shaped candies looked like “beautiful tamalitos,” or “little tamales,” Bessudo recalled.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
“It's like a crunchy explosion of spicy flavor and I think it's so unique in the dessert segment,” says Bessudo. “I feel like even if you've had Tamalitoz a hundred times, you'll still have that wow factor every time you bite into it, and that's how strongly I believe in the product.”
“I didn't know how a premium Mexican candy brand would be received.”
Today, Sugarox's Tamalitos come in a variety of fruit flavors, including Bite Me Blood Orange, Lip-Smacking Mango, Pineapple Galore, Divine Watermelon, and more—and yes, even Tantalizing Tamarind .
After Bessudo and Simmons ran the business from Mexico for several years, expanding sales in hotels and gift shops, they wanted to see how the product would fare in the US
Thus they completed the first printing of Tamalitoz bags; Bessudo drew on his marketing background to create packaging reflective of the Mexico he came from, “which is very modern, cosmopolitan, bright and fun.” Then, they packed their bags into a suitcase and headed to the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago.
“I was nervous,” Bessudo admits. “I didn't know how a premium brand of Mexican candy would be received. I mean, Mexican candy is traditionally not considered a premium product. So here we were, entering this new space. It was new to us. , and was new to the category.”
However, Bessudo and Simmons were pleasantly surprised: their candy was a hit.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
“It's a lot of fun and it's (great) to feel the love from our retail partners.”
Looking back, Bessudo thinks Tamalitoz entered the market at an ideal time when people wanted to see a departure from traditional products in the candy aisle.
Michaels was the first major retailer in the US to stock Tamalitoz. Now, the candy is distributed locally and globally in various grocery stores and online stores, including Whole foods and Aim. The co-founders have expanded the product offering to include Tamalitoz ChewLows (a low-sugar option), Tamalitoz Chili Pops and Tamalitoz Palomitaz, a “Tex-Mex gourmet popcorn.”
Tamalitoz's journey from Sugarox has been filled with learning since day one – from the first months of making sweets to working with key vendors and beyond.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Tamalitoz by Sugarox
What's more, while the company “didn't make a lot of noise” about the fact that Tamalitoz is LGBTQ-owned and operated in Mexico, which Bessudo says can still be too conservative and traditional, it has embraced the identity more in the U.S. — and so have her partners. Texas-based supermarket chain HEB invites Tamalitoz to participate in its LGBT Pride events in Austin every year.
“It's so much fun and it's (great) to feel our love retail partners“, adds Bessudo.
To aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to make their creative strides in the food space, Bessudo suggests, above all, to “have a clear vision what you want your brand to be” — and to develop a product in which you fully believe.
“If you have a product and you believe in it Markingthere's a lot of ways to get it off the ground without breaking the bank,” Bessudo says. “You can do a lot of things online now. If you want to take the next step, trade shows are amazing. These are fun ways to get in front of buyers. And it's also a good way for people to test your product – people trying hundreds of different products all the time.”