Going all in on candy

Greg Fornalczyk and his wife, Missy Bertges, went from owning a gift shop to becoming candy makers over the last two years thanks to the popular demand of the nautically themed candies they developed under the brand Lake Erie Candy Co.

Before starting Lake Erie Candy Co., the couple owned a gift store in Erie, Pennsylvania, B3 Gallery and Gifts. “We sold a product that was marketed as Erie’s only edible beach glass, but the problem was that it was chocolate pebbles. My wife wanted candy that looked like beach glass so she decided to go out and make it herself.”

Bertges started dabbling with hard tack candies that looked like the colors of beach glass people find washed up on the shores of Lake Erie. “It was excruciating amounts of trial and error to not only get the flavor, but to get the shape and size and make it shelf stable,” says Fornalczyk.

Once it looked and tasted exactly the way they envisioned, they began selling it in their own gift shop, online and to other retailers in the Lake Erie region.

“It was popular, but people wanted more products,” Fornalczyk recalls.

The couple then began making giant jelly beans that look just like beach pebbles, candy sweet tarts called Go Fish, gummy worms and Fish Bait and Beach Bear gummies. They also added gourmet chocolate seashells. “So we just brainstormed nautical things and these couple of products turned into about 300,” Fornalczyk says.

The candy business took off so dramatically that Fornalczyk and Bertges decided to sell their gift shop so they could focus solely on the candy. Lake Erie Candy Co. opened its first retail location this past spring with a grand opening May 29.

“The candy is just perfect for people coming in from out of town,” says Fornalczyk “The adults appreciate the novelty; the kids like the candy.”