Firm finds a niche with sweet taste of nostalgia

Limerick confectionery company Pandora Bell is finding a market for handmade swirly lollipops and old-fashioned salted caramels not just in Ireland but also in the US, Russia, and the Middle East.

Selling to Harvey Nichols and Selfridges in the UK, and to fine food stores around the country, Pandora Bell has just shipped its first order to the US, supplying a food chain owned by TK Maxx.

“We are also in discussions with a number of buyers and distributors in Asia,’’ says Pandora Bell proprietor Nicole Dunphy.

A “boutique confect-ionery label’’ Pandora Bell has benefited from the wave of nostalgia for old-fashioned sweets that has swept the country in recent years. But Pandora Bell was launched before the old-style sweet shops were set up and, according to Ms Dunphy, involves a more unique concept.

Targeting the upper end of the confectionery market, she has put together a range of high-quality products produced by artisan producers both in Ireland and elsewhere in the EU.

“It’s traditional-style confectionery made with honey, eggs, nuts, butter, and real ingredients with no artificial colours or preservatives.’’

Formerly a producer with Lyric FM, Ms Dunphy learned how to make chocolates in France and ice cream in Italy in preparation for setting up her own business.

“I wanted to make chocolates; that was my passion, but there were a lot of companies doing this already.’’

She also contemplated setting up her own shop but decided that creating a brand might make a better option in the recessionary climate. Opting to sell high-end confectionery products not widely available on the market, Ms Dunphy picked salted butter caramels and traditional, Italian-style honey nougat.

Identifying producers, she set about designing a brand and packaging. “I wanted to create some-thing with international appeal and imagined Pandora Bell as a 1930s movie character.”

An art history graduate, she found inspiration in vintage perfumes when developing both the packaging and the image for her company. Online, she describes Pandora Bell products as “once upon a time confectionery”.

Operating from an extension at her home in Ballysimon, Ms Dunphy set up in Sept 2009. “My first customer was an independent retailer in Limerick, I got in to a few local shops and spent a lot of time travelling to fine food shops around the country,’’ she said.

Within a year Pandora Bell products were in 30 outlets — they’re now in 50. Customers are based mainly in Dublin and in tourist areas.

After a year in business, she came to a decision: “I needed volume to make this work and to achieve this I could either sell to supermarkets or export — I chose to export.”

The entrepreneur also realised she needed a wider product range and began sourcing other products.

A DIY approach to contacting foreign buyers directly didn’t work very well but a visit to ISM in Germany, the world’s largest confectionery fair, with Bord Bia early last year proved worthwhile.

Pandora landed a contract to supply 25 stores of an upmarket Russian food retail chain Azbuka Vkusa, which has become one of the Irish company’s largest customers. Pandora also found a distributor in Germany and started supplying lollipops, jellies, and fudge to Lindner food halls.

As a result of a visit to the Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London last year, Ms Dunphy began selling to Harvey Nichols and Selfridges and to some Middle Eastern outlets of the US-owned Deane & DeLuca food store chain.

Since visiting the ISM for the second time this year, the company has had discussions with a number of buyers and distributors in Japan, China, and Singapore.

Since 2011 Pandora Bell has employed a second person to help with packaging and has been offering a range which includes traditional boiled sweets in glass jars, real jellies, butter fudge, and egg shells filled with praline for the Easter market.

Sales grew by 100% in 2011 and 30% this year, while exports have grown from 20% last year to over 50%, and are continuing to rise.

“This month 99% of sales are exports since we are supplying foreign buyers for the Christmas market. We are selling candy canes and lollipops but the biggest demand at this time of the year is for nougat,” she said.

Ms Dunphy is busy packaging confectionery for Christmas but in the New Year plans to devote some time to capitalising on market opportunities in the Middle East and Asia.