Charted Territory
Candy crosses the border to open new doors.
After passing out samples of their Clodhoppers candy all day at
the Wal-Mart Canada vendor show in Toronto, the co-founders of
Krave's
Candy Co. in Winnipeg, Manitoba, didn't bother to read the
badge of a man who walked up to their booth. When he revealed he
was Lee Scott, president and CEO of Wal-Mart USA, Chris Emery, 33,
and Larry Finnson, 34, were stunned--but regained their composure
and discussed opportunities with Scott.
After 400 U.S. Wal-Mart locations tested the product during the
2000 Christmas season, Clodhoppers could be found in all 2,700
stores by Christmas 2001, boosting Krave's sales by 40
percent.
Focusing on becoming a top candy brand in Canada, Krave's
isn't actively pursuing many other U.S. accounts but is testing
regionally with Costco and angling for the U.S. specialty food
market.
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Emery's grandmother--on whose recipe Clodhoppers were
based--still buys the candy. "It's a great gift to
Chris' grandma, us being successful with her recipe,"
Finnson remarks. For these best friends, a brand with 2003
projected sales of nearly $6 million makes it clear that Grandma
knows best.