Inspiring Conversations with Sarah Smith of Southern Caramel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Smith.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Southern Caramel started as a way to be home with my newborn daughter. I had been working in the aerospace industry and making the caramels for family and friends. Co-workers encouraged me that I could start a business and Southern Caramel was born around the same time as my daughter. It started out of my home kitchen under the Cottage Food Law and I made the caramels during nap time and evenings. From there, we moved to a kitchen sharing situation and finally to our own dedicated production and retail space. As my daughter grew, so did the business. My dad joined me in 2018 so we are both Woman-Owned and Family-Owned and operated.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are definitely great seasons and challenging seasons when it comes to owning and operating your own business. I think I speak for many businesses when I say that COVID-19 has been our biggest challenge to date. We are so grateful to God and our amazing customers that we are still in business. It breaks my heart to see others around us going out of business and there has been so much financial, physical, and mental struggle.

In the early days, we had a shelf life issue that we needed to resolve. Our retail partners were calling us and saying that the caramels were crystalizing and turning back to sugar on shelves. What started out as a negative turned to a big positive. We are one of the few caramels on the market that make our caramels without corn syrup. We were able to extend our shelf life to four months and eliminate the corn syrup from our ingredient list.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Southern Caramel?
We are a confectioner that specializes in gourmet handcrafted caramels. Our caramels are preservative-free and made from sugar, cream, and butter. The fact that our main ingredient is sugar and not corn syrup really sets our caramels apart. In addition to our year-round flavors such as Sea Salt or Coffee, we have seasonal caramels such as Lavender Tea or Gingerbread. We are always rotating our flavors and trying new things.

Southern Caramel was started on a foundation of giving. Caramels gifted to co-workers and friends turned to a business that creates high-quality gifts for all of life’s celebrations. We are also committed to giving 10% of all sales back to needs in our community.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My dad joining the business in 2018 was pivotal for both the business and myself. He gave me the push and confidence I needed to take things to the next level and is very involved in the operation of Southern Caramel. As a Woman-Owned business, the community of women I have met over the years has also been very instrumental as well. We have a great Women’s Business Center (WeVenture) here locally that has been a huge support to Southern Caramel and offered mentoring and coaching over the years.

Contact Info:

• Email: sarah@southerncaramel.com
• Website: www.southerncaramel.com
• Instagram: @southern.caramel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Southern-Caramel-343804439118770
• Twitter: @handmadecaramel

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Lisa Marshall Photography