Sweet success as firm’s sales rocket

A confectionery company that was established two years ago has seen its turnover balloon from zero to in excess of €4 million, based on one simple idea.

Tubs Sweets based in Rathnew Co Wicklow, package sweets into small tubs, and this has driven the company’s sales.

“We have never had a sales and marketing person, we have just responded to phone calls. The product has sold itself. I would love to take credit for it but I can’t,” said the company’s founder, Kevin Ginty.

He set up the company after the importation and distribution company that he had run for 13 years went bust in the down turn. He said the previous company was too exposed to the construction sector.

Bouncing back with Tubs Sweets, Mr Ginty and his business partner John Linnane built a thriving confectionery distribution business supplying Tubs Sweets to over 1,000 retailers all over the country. The product is stocked by most retailers.

It now employs 45 people and has opened depots in Cork, Limerick and will open a fourth in Galway in the coming weeks. The company is also planning to create an additional 20 jobs in the next six months.

Mr Ginty said the company is inundated with demands from abroad to export the product but their first priority is to make sure that the product is fully rolled out to all Irish stores.

“We are literally inundated with enquiries from retailers on a daily basis and have had very strong interest from both UK and European retailers which we hope will lead to significant export business,” he said.

Tubs Sweets started out with a trial in Superquinn, Lucan, and have grown continually since then. Mr Linnane provided the seed capital, but Mr Ginty said the company could not have grown without bank support.

“SMEs face a huge struggle, we could not have grown without a bank facility,” said Mr Ginty.

The future for Tubs Sweets is looking bright with a number of new ranges planned under the Tubs Sweets brand. They currently sell 100 different variations of sweets including jelly beans, cola cubes, bon bons, fudge and marshmallows, to name a few.