About
Sharp's makes over 100 different varieties of candy, all from family recipes and all but the chocolate made from scratch. The distinctive part of many of those 100 candies is the unique soft center. Without giving too much away, Rob Sharp says it has to do with the preparation of the ingredients, the use of invert sugar (a natural preservative) and the handling during the candy making process.
Nobody in the world makes soft centers the way we do,' he says. 'Most companies have a fondant-based center, which we find inferior. 'Our quality is superior because we make it all right here in this location. It's fresher because the kitchen is 30 feet away. We're constantly rotating our inventory in small batches--that's the advantage of being a small company. With a large satellite operation, you have to make large batches and ship it to all your stores. That's why we haven't expanded: we haven't been able to keep the freshness. It's also why we don't sell wholesale--I can't maintain the freshness I want. We could gain huge shelf-life if we used artificial preservatives, but we don't. The very thing that's so successful about our business is exactly the thing that keeps us from growing.'
