Jill Atkinson and her husband John thought they were on to a sweet deal when they sold their Denmark restaurant, The Observatory, to concentrate on making toffee under the brand name The Toffee Factory about a year ago.
Jill Atkinson and her husband John thought they were on to a sweet deal when they sold their Denmark restaurant, The Observatory, to concentrate on making toffee under the brand name The Toffee Factory about a year ago.
But just how sweet they weren’t to know.
It doesn’t take long for Perth’s sweet tooths to spread the word, however, and the Atkinsons’ toffee is now exported to Hong Kong, while its sister business, A Bit on the Side, has just signed an export deal to the Middle East.
The growth of the Perth market and international sales deals have forced the couple to look for larger premises.
The Toffee Factory produces 65 kilograms of toffee a day.
Mrs Atkinson said the pair has been making toffee for many years but decided to make it a full-time job last year.
“We’ve been in the restaurant game for 18 years and we began wholesaling seven years ago, but we did it while we had the restaurant,” she said.
“We had a restaurant in the Goldfields and sold it as JJ’s Old English Toffee. About four years ago we came to Denmark and we changed the name to The Toffee Factory.
“We sold The Observatory last August so we could concentrate on the toffee.”
Mrs Atkinson said demand has become so strong that the business had outgrown its current address.
“We’re working to a good capacity now but we’re looking for a new outlet to wholesale from. We will keep the retail here but we need bigger premises,” she said.
“It’s quite incredible how quickly it’s grown. We didn’t expect it to come so fast, we would have left the restaurant game much earlier had we known.”
A Perth distributor was appointed six weeks ago to lift the Perth profile of The Toffee Factory and A Bit on the Side.
According to PN Agencies director Peter Nicholson, 20 outlets stock the range and sales have been good.
“They do some great varieties. Their Bit on the Side has things like a chilli and passionfruit mayonnaise and a roasted garlic mayonnaise and they’ve got a dukkah that’s selling well, and there’s plenty of that stuff on the market,” Mr Nicholson said.
“I think people are appreciating the product.”
Mrs Atkinson said the company was currently looking to appoint a distributor to boost sales on the east coast.
“It’s quite difficult to get our stuff over there because we can’t freight small quantities, so we need to get a distributor,” she said.
And they’re also keen to develop international markets.
“We’re in Park n Shop supermarkets [in Hong Kong]; they’ve got an outlet called grEAT and it’s mainly gourmet food designed for expats, and we’re selling it there.
“Three days ago we took our first [overseas] order for our [A Bit on the Side] sauces, that’s going to the Middle East”
