My packaging can beat up your packaging!

Our new and improved candy wrappers have finally arrived!

If you've had Barbary Brix caramels up until now, you've been eating them out of a natural, recycled wax paper wrapper. We certainly don't want to diss the lovely, and compostable little guys that have served us so well but they tend to seep a bit of oil, making things a smidge greasy. :(

The good news is that our Innovia Films, custom cut NatureFlex (tm) wrappers have arrived! Innovia is a company that makes a fantastic, sustainably manufactured, compostable film similar to cellophane. It's clear, so you can see the caramel better and it prevents that distracting oily film on the outside. Yay! As if that weren't enough, they are, I'm trying to find a good description...uber-compostable. Basically, not only can you compost them in a municipal compost bin, they would even compost in your home compost in a mere 34 days! Really.

Incidentally, I heard that worms loooooove them. Even fancy worms that wear fancy worm top hats. (Don't worry if you don't follow, that was an Always Sunny reference for that crowd...)

Bet you'd like to, maybe, know whyyyy we are so excited about this? I'll tell you.

Well, for starters, candy packaging is a big contributor to landfill waste. You might think those little wrappers can't make much of a difference but the average American consumes a staggering 23.8 pounds of candy per year according to the US Department of Commerce! (2008, most recent data.) That's a lot of packaging; it adds up, yo. In fact according to a, maybe outdated but interesting 1997 study (Ackerman), food packaging is about one third of municipal waste in the United States. Yikes.

Something else to think about is the environmental impact of manufacturing that packaging... How many food companies disclose that or are they even aware?

Theeeen, and probably more troubling, is the fact that food manufacturing is one of the more significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the US, 20-30%. Whoa. Candy is a big part of that industry and you don't hear much about sustainable food or confectionery manufacturing, now do you...

So, long story longer, as a small part of how we are trying to pay attention to and be responsible for our own environmental impact, we feel really good about using this environmentally low-impact wrapper as a part of our eco-friendlier packaging line-up!! Check back for other posts on the rest of our eco-friendly packaging later... :)

In summary, PLEASE REMEMBER TO COMPOST THESE WRAPPERS!!

Hugs,

Sugar

PS This is an interesting research report for your reading pleasure.

Last Week of Orders for 2010

The BBx team has been busy as ever giving it our all to keep up with all the holiday orders.  We're getting down to the last few days to get those orders in to guarantee holiday delivery.  So, if you're waiting till the last minute to place your order, now is the time!

We've had a few people ask us about the number of caramels that come in each bag, so... Here's a quick breakdown of the approximate number of chews that you will be getting in the different sizes.

1/4lb = 12 - 15 Caramels
1/2lb = 25 - 30 Caramels
1lb    = 50 - 60 Caramels

Last day to place orders is Friday, December 17th (Orders will be shipped on Monday, December 20th).

If you're looking to check out our wares in person, you can also catch us this Sunday at the Indie Bazaar downtown on the second floor of the Metreon!

-Cap'n

Thank You!

Just wanted to take a minute out of the hectic production schedule to thank everyone that came out to the party on Tuesday night. We are lucky to have so many friends and supporters that we can draw a full house all night on a Tuesday night!

We ended up selling out of everything that we brought with us, and have been steadily adding additional orders to our production queue. We are going to be taking orders through Friday, December 17th, so if you are looking for a last minute holiday gift, you have a little over a week left.

You can place orders here!

Also, if you have any questions, feel free to email and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Happy Holiday Party Season,

-Cap'n

Launch Party Tonight!

That's right, Kiddos!

Launch party is tonight, starts at 8pm at Sip Bar and Lounge . We're going to have plenty of samples to go around as well as some product up for sale. If you can't make the party, you can still get your hands on some of our delectables right here.

Come on out, try our wares, have some cocktails, and get into the holiday Spirit with Barbary Brix!

-Cap'n Rob

First Day of Production!

As with any first day, it was bound to be a long one....

After making our way out to our kitchen in West Berkeley, unloading our second car load of equipment and other supplies in as many days, and getting set up, we were FINALLY able to get down to the business of actually cooking the caramels (insert golf clap here).  All the work over the past few months to get to the point of actually producing...  all the testing, legal paperwork, research, more testing, infinity samples handed out, design work, packaging, more testing...  Just to get here.  It was somewhat surreal to actually get down to business, but definitely in a good way!

We soon fell into a rhythm.  Mostly it was Sugar running around the kitchen while the stirring and temperature monitoring was left to the help.  However, as it turns out, the cooking wasn't any more complicated at the scaled up batch sizes (phew!). Since we were the only ones in the kitchen on Saturday, the whole place took on a sweet aroma that made the neighboring businesses jealous.

For reference, the photo below is of a pot of approximately 4 gallons of 230ºF+ bubbling cauldron of sweet caramel goodness, that wooden spoon? Over 3ft long.

After we had cooked the caramel, it was time to cut and wrap.  Fairly straight forward until you realize that there are over 4000 caramels that needed to be wrapped by hand!  Hey, at least they looked nice in the pans, right?

Thankfully, we soon realized that if we were going to get the job done that night, we had to call in some reinforcements.  We had some great friends come out and help us get all the caramels wrapped up so that everyone can now officially order them on our site!

Take a peek at some of our early packaging, to see what our customers will be getting very, very soon!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and hope to see you at the launch party at SIP on Tuesday!

-Cap'n Rob

p.s. Launch Party details here!