Sweet smell of success Secret recipe helps Madawaska fudge makers gain recognition

The sweet smell of maple permeated the air in Jane Carter’s small kitchen, where a 55-pound batch of fudge simmered as a second batch cooled. Another day it could very well be scents of chocolate or peanut butter that fill the air of Mom’s Fudge of Maine.

At any one time, three batches, 165 pounds, could be simmering in the pots that she, her relatives and friends use to make the fudge, which is quickly gaining recognition in Maine, New England and beyond.

Yet it has been only five months since Jane, 55, and Jerry Carter, 54, started making the fudge from her own recipe for sale in local stores. The product quickly caught on and a statewide dealer was brought in. The fudge’s appearance at two food shows in Maine and Massachusetts introduced it to an even larger audience.

“I’d have to kill you if I told you the recipe,” Jane Carter said recently. “That’s become a joke I tell people who come to work here.

“Only a few people know my recipe, and it’s the one I used to make fudge for the kids when they were younger,” she said. “People seem to like it and we are selling it all over, even through [our] Web site.”

Fudge is something the former food supervisor had made for years. One day she just decided to make some to sell, and it started with Madawaska convenience stores. Soon it was available at northern Maine Shop ‘n Save stores, and then Pine State Trading Co. became involved. Mom’s Fudge of Maine was showcased at the Pine State Trading Co. food show in Augusta, and then in Worcester, Mass.

A plan in mind

Carter’s husband and sons Chad, 26, and Eric, 30, urged her to sell the fudge – to start a business. She acquiesced, with a plan in mind.

Maybe, just maybe if this catches on, she summarized in her own mind, her sons may return to Madawaska from their jobs in southern Maine. That’s happening this summer, she said.

Chad, kind of a computer whiz, created a label for the fudge, which has two wooden spoons and Jane Carter’s picture on it, and they were off.

Carter started selling her fudge in Madawaska in November 2007. Now, just five months later, it’s being sold worldwide and samples are going out every day in the mail to chain stores all over the Eastern Seaboard.

Pine State Trading is making the fudge available in stores throughout Maine. In addition, Carter said she has secured accounts with Hannaford supermarkets, Big Apple stores and Sprague’s in Bangor, and is working on an agreement with a company from Detroit.

While the tempo of the new business is fast, Carter, with her hair under a hairnet and a bright rusty-orange apron over her white T-shirt, said she is enjoying herself.

“Relatives and friends have been helping with the work, placing the recipe in cooking squares, cutting and packaging the sweet goodies,” she said. “They are coming in with food for us while we work and joining in the work.

“Nobody is getting paid, but we are all having fun,” she added. “But I am in it for the long run. This is something the boys will be left to grow with and keep them in northern Maine.”

Carter hopes her efforts will bring other young people back to northern Maine. She signed an agreement with Northern Maine Community College recently to help train people to work in the fledgling operation. The training will be done on site from a plan being developed by NMCC. About 35 people attended the recent unveiling of the agreement.

Speedy growth

Carter’s goal in starting her business was to make up the money she had lost after leaving her job as food supervisor at Ridgewood Estates, an assisted-living home in Madawaska.

“I thought I would make a few pounds a day, enough to make up for the lost income, but then it mushroomed,” she said. “Now we can make 1,000 pounds a day.

“I work with the pots and pans, and Jerry and Chad are doing the necessary paperwork,” she said during a break in her work. “We can make 20 batches in an eight-hour shift.”

Carter said that when Mom’s Fudge of Maine was launched last fall, she and her family had no idea it would grow by leaps and bounds. “Right now, we are looking at hiring six people to help us,” she said.

The company is experiencing growing pains. The Carters have learned how to make labels, create packaging, cut large sheets of fudge and ship their product.

But getting bigger is a waiting game, Carter said.

The Carters have moved the business from their home kitchen to the site of a former restaurant on Main Street. Their facility includes four rooms, three where the fudge is made and wrapped. The fourth is a storage area for boxes and supplies.

Carter has had business help over the past several months. She cited the Northern Maine Development Commission, NMCC and a local selectman, Robert Williams, who made the connection for them with Pine State Trading Co.

But in the end, it’s the fudge that sells.