Jack Bessudo, co-founder of Tamalitoz by Sugarox, was traveling for his advertising job when he discovered another calling: candy-making.
One visit to a Sydney, Australia candy shop in particular piqued Bessudo’s interest in the craft. “I just fell in love with the whole process,” he tells Entrepreneur. “So, when I saw that, I thought to myself, One day, I’m going to learn the art of candy-making [and] then open one of these stores where you can share with people how it’s made and develop new flavors.”
In 2010, Bessudo quit his 9-5 to delve into the confectionery world. Although he was well-versed in 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 based at the time. A three-month “crash course in candy-making” followed in Bessudo’s cousin’s empty apartment in Coyoacán.
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“There were lots of blisters on the fingers, but it was magical,” Bessudo recalls. “For the first time, I was able to work with my hands and be creative that way versus being in an office or an agency setting where you have to work a lot with your head.”
It was also around then that Bessudo met his now husband and co-founder, Declan Simmons. Even though Simmons lived in the UK at the time, he was a sounding board from the very beginning. According to Bessudo, Simmons took the lead on analytical aspects of the business while he honed in on brand messaging and the product itself.
“When we opened up the shop, it became sort of a destination, a tourist attraction.”
Just six months after Bessudo’s candy-making training began, he and Simmons opened their first storefront in a small shopping center in Mexico City near Bessudo’s home. They called it Sugarox Candy Studio. “When we opened up the shop, it became sort of a destination, a tourist attraction,” Bessudo recalls. “So people would come, and they would watch us make candy, which was just so much fun.”
From the start, Bessudo and Simmons were committed to making a different kind of candy. The duo envisioned a product that would strike an unexpected balance between the sweet, spicy and tangy Mexican candy from Bessudo’s childhood and the traditional British sweets from Simmons’.
It was a boundary-pushing, entrepreneurial inclination that ran in the family. Bessudo’s grandfather Isaac Bessudo, who went by “Jack” in the U.S., owned the soft drink company Jarritos. Bessudo remembered hearing stories about the development of the beverage’s tamarind flavor. Tamarind is a fruit that grows in a bean-like pod; it contains a nutrient-rich, fibrous pulp and may have antioxidant and antiviral effects, among other medicinal properties.
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People told Bessudo’s grandfather that the tamarind-flavored soft drink “was going to be crazy.” The product went on to become one of Jarritos’ bestsellers.
So Bessudo and Simmons came up with an innovative treat: Tamalitoz, naturally flavored fruit candy filled with chili lime and a touch of sea salt. The product got its name after a woman watched the two-hour-long batching process at Sugarox Candy Studio and said the pillow-shaped candies looked like “beautiful tamalitos,” or “little tamales,” Bessudo recalls.
“It’s like a crunchy explosion of spicy flavor, and I think it’s so unique in the candy segment,” Bessudo says. “I feel like, even if you’ve had Tamalitoz a hundred times, you’ll still get 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 was going to be received.”
Today, Tamalitoz by Sugarox comes 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 a couple of years, expanding sales to hotels and gift shops, they wanted to see how the product would do in the U.S.
So they completed the first print run of Tamalitoz pouches; 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 the pouches 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 Mexican candy brand was going to be received. I mean, Mexican candy is traditionally not considered a premium product. So here we were, entering this new space. It was new for us, and it was new for the category.”
However, Bessudo and Simmons were pleasantly surprised: Their candy was a hit.
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“It’s so much fun, and it’s [great] to feel the love from our retail partners.”
Looking back, Bessudo thinks Tamalitoz entered the market at an ideal moment when people wanted to see a departure from traditional products in the candy aisle.
Michaels was the first major U.S. retailer to stock Tamalitoz. Now, the candy is locally and globally distributed in various grocery stores and online shops, including Whole Foods and Target. 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 by Sugarox’s journey has been learning-filled since day one — from the early months of candy making to working with major retailers and beyond.
Additionally, even though the company “didn’t make much noise” about the fact that Tamalitoz is LGBTQ-owned and operated in Mexico, which Bessudo says can still be very conservative and traditional, it’s embraced the identity more in the U.S. — and so have its partners. Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B invites Tamalitoz to participate in its LGBT Pride events in Austin every year.
“It’s so much fun, and it’s [great] to feel the love from our retail partners,” Bessudo adds.
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To aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to put their own creative spins on the snack space, Bessudo suggests, above all, to “have a clear vision of what your brand wants to be” — and to develop a product you fully believe in.
“If you have a product and believe in the branding, there are lots of ways to get it off the ground without breaking the bank,” Bessudo says. “You can do lots of things online right now. If you want to take the next step, trade shows are amazing. Those are fun ways to get in front of buyers. And it’s also a good way to have people test your product — people that try hundreds of different products all the time.”
