The trio of Lynette Hays, Kristy Jackson, and Jill Price, the owners of Salted, have quite a lot to celebrate these days.
Jackson recently returned from Toronto, where she attended a three-day ‘Academy in the City’ event hosted by Jillian Micheals and The Atelier. At the event Salted was accepted as a sponsor of the event’s “luxurious afternoon snack,” for attendees, and also included in a very high-end VIP swag bag.
Jackson says the event, held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, was spectacular. While there, she got to meet many other amazing Canadian business owners, all women, and made some great connections. “From that alone we’ve gained two new wholesale accounts in Ontario,” says Price.
Jackson says, “We’ve also been asked about potential future collaborations with some amazing businesses.”
The event was part of Harris’ (of “Love it or List it” fame), Jilly Academy alumni and followers.
“It’s women supporting women,” says Jackson, “an event like this always inspires us and brings us new connections.”
The highlight for Jackson for the weekend was spending some time with Harris, who actually remembered the Salted caramel product as soon as they were introduced. “She’d tried one, and talked to Kristy about that experience.”
Salted now has wholesale accounts from BC to Ontario and since November, has more than doubled the number of wholesale accounts who carry their caramels.
Price, Hays, and Jackson say that events and connections like these can not only help build their wholesale base, but also have an impact on their business line. “Custom corporate orders are becoming more and more common, where we work with a client to brand our product with their logo, and they use the product for promotions, and corporate gifting.
“We met lots of realtors and designers where our product was a perfect match for them.” The trio are looking at how they can support their clients in new and innovative ways going forward, and there’s been a huge uptake in that area of their business.
“We’re seeing more intentional small business support from large corporations, and we fit right into that.”
The trio says, “An event like this really speaks to us, it’s really how to manifest your dreams. A belief in yourself and in your dreams can become your reality.”
Jackson says, “And having all these new business owners in our circle is another bonus.”
Salted’s motto is “Indulge in Life’s little moments,” and Jackson says, “this event had so many indulgent moments.”
Hosted in part by event planners Atelier, the event included specially curated luxuries for participants. “And our product was included in that, it was a real honour.”
Since then, other attendees have been sharing very positive reviews about Salted caramels.
“The two women who run Atelier were so impressed with our product. They told us, ‘People have been raving about your caramels!’”
But none of it would have happened had they not ascribed to the ‘Don’t ask; don’t get’ motto (courtesy of Amanda Wagner) and applied to the event to have their product included.
“We had just been approached for a large-scale project that we were unable to take on, then this event was announced, and it was our scale.
“We came up with a special caramel design specifically for the event, using a sparkly heart, because we knew that Jillian loves hearts.”
“Everything we do has a trickle effect,” the partners say.
“Our business has had such big support from our communities and our families, but that event was kind of a ‘pinch me’ moment, to be there on such a large national stage.
“It was such a great feeling!”
This was their first national event, although Salted has been featured at the 2023 Women in Wealth Gala in Edmonton and the 2024 event in Calgary. “From March, when that gala took place, until now, we’ve gained five new retailers from Calgary.”
As a sponsor, they offer a caramel at every place sitting at the event. “We put our marketing dollars into sampling.
“Locally we’ve done that with the Red Serge Ball, Flagstaff Celebrates Success, and other events.”
The business got another boost when they were accepted into a business accelerator program run by Venture Park Labs, whose founder is Arlene Dickenson of Dragon’s Den fame. As Cohort 16, the Salted trio went through the four-month program, and officially graduated just this January.
They say one of the highlights from that experience was a special banquet where a top chef created special dishes from all the products represented by participants.
They say, “Initially, we were disappointed that none of the dishes included Salted caramels, but on talking to the chef, he said, ‘There was no way for me to improve this, so I left it as-is.’
“He wanted people to explore it just as it was, which was a huge compliment.”
All three partners are also busy moms with busy lives, but they say it’s important for them as business partners to meet regularly to talk about and work on the business outside their regular production days. “We have to put it in the calendar, and put aside that time.
“It helps you review your vision and mission statements.”
They say their mentor from the Accelerator program told them it was important to make the time to meet together; to make the time for their business.
Jackson, Price, and Hays say their goal is to expand across Canada as they gain brand awareness.
The crew says their next step in production growth is automating the wrapping process. They have no plans to automate the cooking, however, still wanting that hands-on process and quality control. But there’s been other innovations in production since they launched their business; Price and her husband worked with some local fabricators to come up with some specialized equipment that has helped streamline the cooking process.
They rent the Killam Community Hall’s commercial kitchen to make their products on a weekly basis. “The board has been so great to work with, we think they’ve really taken an innovative step with us.”
They are so proud to be based in rural Alberta. From their kitchen in Killam everything else they need is so close, they say. “We’re so lucky; it’s so convenient to work out of here, our bank is steps away, our accountant and lawyer a few blocks, and the post office is just down the street for shipping our orders.”
As business partners, Hays, Price, and Jackson feel very lucky to have found one another. “The three of us each have a specialized area that we love and enjoy and specialize in, we couldn’t do this alone.”
And despite spending hours in a kitchen heavily laden with the tantalizing scent of caramel every single week, none of the three are tired of their treats.
On average, the trio are producing around 1,500 caramels per week since January, and have introduced a number of different flavours since releasing their first product back in November 2021. That was also when they also introduced their first box set, “12 days of Caramels” for that Christmas season.
They say that first year of production taught them a lot about shipping, and about promotion, where wholesalers are often shooting Christmas promotions as early as July to make it on retail shelves, with buyers often planning as much as 11 months ahead. “We’ve learned the timelines of doing business in the retail world.”
Production has sometimes geared up to as many as 4,200 per week, especially before the release of new gift packaging or special events.
Last fall’s sugar shortage could have been devastating, but because they acted quickly as soon as they heard it might happen, Salted weathered the Christmas 2023 season without an issue.
Hays, Price, and Jackson are still riding the wave of positivity from their latest experience at the Toronto event, and they’re looking forward to what the year has yet to bring.
Fans of Salted caramels can also look forward to some new flavours being introduced this year.
Leslie Cholowsky
Editor