How Sockerbit Scaled From One Store to 1,800 Target Locations

Speaker 1: If you've ever wondered how to start a retail company, grow an e-commerce brand, and scale without losing profitability, this conversation is for you. What if the business you started was a childhood tradition that grew into a brand people line up for in major cities? In this episode, we're joined by Florence Ferris, co-founder of Soccer Bit, the Swedish candy company known for its vibrant pick and mix experience and thoughtful brand design. What looks simple on the surface is a disciplined retail business built on sourcing, operations, local strategy, and smart growth. I'm Melanie Bar. Welcome to the Sheila podcast. Thank you for joining us. Florence, take us back to the beginning before there was a storefront, before there was a brand. What was the moment you realized Swedish candy culture deserved a place in the US? And what made you believe that it would be a

Speaker 2: success? It was more every time we went back to New York City, we will find ourselves walking around and trying to find like a quick treat, walk everywhere, always in a high pace and we just visit different candy shops and it was never good quality candy. So that was kind of like where everything started. And then also we were working for another European candy company in Spain. It was like, ah, if people like it here, why wouldn't they like it in the US? There's so many restaurants. And I think that was where everything started.

Speaker 1: And when you decided to create your company, what were those first 90 days really like? Because it's really hard when you build something from nothing. Where did you start sourcing, testing demand? Did you do pop-ups?

Speaker 2: We believe in the idea. you need to invest all your investments and find a space before you get your investor visa approved. So back then we just went all in. We didn't do popups. We rented a space. We called the FDA. We register all our of our factories. Nobody has done it before us. So, we register all of the Swedish candy and all the different European companies that produce Swedish candy in the US. That was our first 90 days was a lot of work and sitting in any cafe getting used to it to the US way of working registering tax offices, retails, registering scales and collecting all of these documents to present to get our visa because that was also a little bit stressful because then you never know if you're going to be granted that visa. So it was stress, emotional, and we had to we had to make it work.

Speaker 1: It's also a challenge managing the creativity of building a business and a brand. And your package is so fun versus the business side.

Speaker 2: Yes, that's the fun part. And the good thing is I work with my husband, so we could split and conquer. So if if it was something that was very paperwork focused, but at the same time we needed to develop a packaging or the paper bags or what the sign was going to look like. So we could split and do a little bit of both cuz otherwise it's really hard to split your brain in like just

Speaker 1: administrational paperwork and then try to be creative and make something fun. So, I give a lot of credit to my husband for allowing me to be creative while things kept moving.

Speaker 2: And do you have different strengths? That's usually nice when you're working with a a co-founder or a partner when the two have different strengths.

Speaker 1: Yes, Stefan is the Swedish one in our family. He's more structured. He's very Swedish. I'm from Argentina, so I go and I try new things. I'm I'm more adventurous in that sense. That's where we complement each other because you need someone that is very structured to get things going while you are creative and you try new things.

Speaker 2: What makes your company different from the typical candy store and what details did you obsess over early on that turned your visitors into loyal customers?

Speaker 1: Our obsession began from the very beginning to source only from the best factories. Not every candy is made equal and we try to stick to only those trusted factories that been around in Europe for hundreds of years. We wanted to bring that tradition that my husband share with me. Now we share with our kids. It was more focused on sharing that beautiful ritual to come in and get candy on the weekends or whenever you had a bad day. It could be a Wednesday. We had a lot of customers that they were like, "Oh, this is my pickme up for the week and our kids pick candy only on the weekends." It was more bringing that tradition and that ritual of allowing yourself to enjoy more, worry less about what it was and the ingredients and make it count.

Speaker 2: Yeah. I have 12-year-old twins and we can't walk by a candy store without them [laughter] wanting to go in.

Speaker 1: Exactly.

Speaker 2: Candy is joyful, but retail is business. How did you think about pricing margins and the costs in the early days? And did you have any sourcing issues that you can share with us that you were able to overcome?

Speaker 1: The biggest challenge at the beginning was always in retail, especially when you rely on imports. So that was the biggest challenge of all was to manage imports and taxes and charges. Sometimes your shipment got delayed. So then that will influence pricing on the margins most likely because we never change our pricing when we had our margins compromised. We also never change our factories when other factories came in with a knockoff product and offer you cheaper product that looks the same but it was not made the same. We see that a lot but that's what we try to do. Stick to the source, communicate with our customers. Stefan and I, we did everything from the beginning. We were in the store. We were doing the imports at night registering. When you bring products into the US, you you can do pre-registration. So then you announce that your shipment is coming. So then you open your shipment for inspections if they need to do it. So we always did that. And sometimes we had that those times that the shipment we couldn't touch because

Speaker 2: the FDA or customs they said oh you can take it but you cannot touch it until we send the inspection to make sure everything is in order. We always try to be very transparent and tell our customers we don't have your favorite today here we just need to wait. So that's what the joy and the retail blends when you are able to share with your customers the challenges of being a business owner and then wanted to make a living and wanted to make a business out of it. But sometimes it's not all candy and fun. You know, [clears throat] we had those difficult moments.

Speaker 1: And that's so true. It's great that you're showing your real life along the way because that makes someone want to follow you. And also if you want your favorite candy and you have to wait can make you want it more.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Still today we have a few candies. They're not very popular. But we have clients that they've been with us for 15 years and we bring a couple boxes a month. It's not our our best seller. It's not where we get the most margins, but they've been clients for so long. And we curated our store based on all of those peoples that we met along the way. and they're the ones that really curated our store. It was more like, "Oh, you have this one." "No, we don't. I never tried that one." And then we'll talk to the factory and we'll say, "Yeah, that's very popular in the Netherlands." Even if it's a Swedish candy concept, there's some products that they're very popular in different parts of Europe. And we had a very diverse following from the beginning. A lot of European, a lot of Scandinavians, that was our biggest following. But everybody has their own favorites and it's really interesting.

Speaker 1: What do you find different in US manufacturing versus the factories that you buy from?

Speaker 2: Regulations is what makes the big difference. There's a lot of great factories in the US, but they're just follow US regulations. European regulations are a little bit more strict. But there are European factories that produce candy that is not as high quality as the ones that we source. And we see it more and more now with the popularity of Swedish candy. We see a lot of Swedish candy shops that they're adding a lot of different products that they're made in Europe maybe, but with different standards. We only buy from the top manufacturers. We always have less margins, better quality, more quality than quantity.

Speaker 1: What's truly drove traction for you? Do you think it's your location, your brand design, word of mouth, social media?

Speaker 2: I think at the beginning was location. We opened in the middle of the West Village. It was 2010. Nobody knew what Swedish candy was. It was a walking path and either me or Stefan will stay outside with the tray and say, "Try it. It's Swedish candy, but it's candy. It's like your candy, but made better. We started with a great location. It was a time that the village was still a lot of local, so the local community help us so much. New York is busy. We

Speaker 3: were always very taken care of. Then our Scandinavian community was very proud of us bringing a piece of home. So that was our first marketing strategy. Not even a strategy, they told other people. So location and also we were the first one. Everybody, even us when we went back to Sweden or we visited other friends in different countries, they will always ask us to bring candy from Sweden. So for any of the expats that they were living in New York to be able to experience that again to pick and curate their own bag, that was a lifechanging. You know, you get used to it to have it again and you're like, "Oh, when I go to Sweden, I don't need to carry that weight anymore. I'll just I'll just get it." So it's location and community and of course social media later on. a lot of big companies that today we see after us. I think that's what helped us too. They saw that we kept working. When we do a trade show, people never buy from you at the first trade show. They want to see you coming back the next day or coming back the next year. We've proven ourselves to stay on our feet for 15 years. And I think that's what people like and that's how they help us spread the word. And it shows the power of community, too. And it probably brings a bit of home to New York for your customers.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. Share with us the candy experience if we were to walk into your one of your locations.

Speaker 3: The candy experience, it's a candy wall. You grab a bag, you grab a scoop, you pick your own candy, you mix. I always say to customers when they come in, don't get a full scoop of anything because there's so many. When you see a Scandinavian or, you know, a Swedish person come in, they will grab a bag and a scoop and there will be one of this, one of that, and then one of the black ones, one of the licorice, one of the chocolate, and then Americans, they go and then they scoop one of this, one of that, and then done. We try to teach people, don't get a full scope. Everything, even if it's five different strawberries, all of five strawberry profiles are different. the different texture so they have a different coating gives you that Swedish candy experience. That's what we want from people to create that little journey in their bag. Something sweet, something sour. Everybody's different.

Speaker 4: Yeah, it's so nice to have that variety. My twins, my daughter loves uh chocolate and my son vanilla. And when my son tells people he doesn't like chocolate, most of the kids don't believe him until until something chocolate's put in front of him and he has no interest in it. So, it's so interesting to think about that journey of trying new things, too.

Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a you can tell a lot of people if I look at the bags, I'm like, h this person is from this country. I could tell like Scandinavians or the moms or the dads, we don't share a bag. Me and my kids and my husband when we go to the store on Saturdays or we do Friday after school, we all get our bag. My kids are allowed to get 10 pieces and they choose to eat it on Friday night or Saturday, but that's all the candy they get. And we watch a movie. We all we all have our own bag. So yeah. And that was that the tradition to

Speaker 4: go once a week?

Speaker 3: Yes. As an experience and a and a treat. Yes. That's called Loas Goodies. It means Saturday candy. My husband grew up with that. My mother-in-law, who is 85, she still goes to the candy shop on Saturday. She's very healthy, but on Saturdays, she allows herself to have a treat. And that's what we want people to to see us as more a treat, something that you can do sometimes. Quality over quantity. My kids wait for Friday and they're so happy to get it. But the rest of the week, I have hundreds of samples of candy in my house all the time and they don't touch it. They know it's Friday or Saturday and that's the beauty of it. Wait, pause, enjoy, don't think about anything else. There's other healthy things to do during the week, but we we are all allowed to have a little treat on the weekend.

Speaker 4: Yeah, I [clears throat] love that tradition. Even if we're healthy, we still have to treat ourselves. Yes.

Speaker 3: Every once in a while. Exactly. We say in so we always I always say this like joy is also a nutrient. So we need to add that little bit of the everyday.

Speaker 4: So true. Was there a season when the business felt fragile maybe financially, operationally or emotionally? And what did that moment require from you as a leader?

Speaker 3: Co was really a turning point for us. Us and many businesses woke up to a reality that nobody was ready for. That was the most fragile season. We were very lucky that a few months prior co we started transitioning into different online platform. We had this very homemade website that you could, you know, you really if you order from us, it was because you really love us because it was really annoying to place an order. So when we saw COVID, we started calling our bank. My husband was calling our mortgage saying, "We don't know what's going to happen. We don't know if we're going to make a payment next month." And it was really fragile. That's the right word to describe that moment because nobody knew you could break or you could survive. Nobody knew what it was. But we survived and

Speaker 4: yeah, good for you. I mean, so many business owners were in that same position and good for you for making that pivot to going online. So many people did, but good for you for saying we're going to make it and we're going to make sure that we are still able to be profitable.

Speaker 3: Yeah. And my second son was 6 months. So it was really, you know, I was we were it was painful.

Speaker 4: I do know I had two five and sixyear-olds during that time and I thought during that time I want to show up for women during this season especially because as a it's hard enough

Speaker 3: as a business owner going through all of those transitions. But when you have young children at home, even older children, it was a it was a really tough time. But no school, my oldest one was three, so no preschool. the baby at home, taking turns with my husband, go to the store. But we were flexible. We did whatever we could. We follow all the regulations. The health department will say now you can do only delivery. And because we are regulated as a as a food establishment, we didn't have to close. So, we could still fulfill orders online. We had a little door in in the back of the store and people could pick up orders. A lot of our community from New York, from 10 years of customers face to face, everybody sign up to our emails. We got so many messages and orders from our customers that normally used to come to the store and they're like, "Oh, it's me. I used to come every Tuesday with my dog or my daughter loves this. Now we are in a lockdown." I have those messages. It was a really nice moment. Very fragile, but we were flexible enough to survive. I think that's that's the key to to keep your business up is just be flexible. Do whatever you can at that time even if it doesn't match. We had to make all of this not so pretty adjustments in the store. But you survived. We kept our staff and they're still most of them are still with me. So

Speaker 4: that's great. And you bring up a good point. We were all looking for any kind of joy during co spa days. Thinking back to that time that would be a great moment. bring that little bit of joy. Speaking of joy, what do you do personally to make sure that you're finding and living your joy every day?

Speaker 3: My biggest joy are my children. I get to pick them up and drop them off at school mostly every day. I feel very privileged that I can do that. I love my weekends. I love those slow mornings. We try to have a home day. My kids love a home day. So then we always try to do that. That's where we see joy, you know, to see that the work of the week pays off. If you can have a weekend off, we work so many weekends. We don't take any weekend for granted right now. When you do retail, and I'm sure everybody that does retail or did hospitality or work in any of any service business, you know, weekends are always taken. So, the biggest joy we have right now is to be able to use those weekends with our kids. everyday things. Take them to soccer, playdates. That's the joy of our week.

Speaker 4: And what do you hope is next for your company?

Speaker 3: We are growing very fast and we have great big companies that saw in us something that we were too busy kind of like with our head down working that we didn't see. So I think I give a lot of the credit of our growth and what is coming next to those that they were above us and looking at our brand. United Airlines, Target, all of these big corporations, they're the ones that help us to visualize have this vision of where we want our company to go next. They saw it first and I will be forever grateful those big companies that they believe in you from the beginning when no one did before. the first ones to knock at your door and said, "Can you do this for us?" when you thought your business was a little candy company that you work every day and that you pay your bills and then get to do what you love and we love candy. We love what we do. I love working with my husband every day. We see our company working with more of other companies that they give a small business an opportunity. There's so many of us out there. I'm very grateful to be one of those that they were given the opportunity to show that we can do the same as a big company. But that's where we see ourselves.

Speaker 4: Yeah. The path of the entrepreneur to keep going. And can you share just one of those collaborations with us?

Speaker 3: For example, we launched with Target in November. Now, we just got granted uh another opportunity with them to be in all of their locations. So, that's like 1,800 locations. companies like them or war market. It's it's a company that we love working with. They are doing more and more of for the international discovery and so we like to bring people not everybody has the the possibility to travel and to discover these products everywhere. I didn't grow up traveling so much. My family didn't have much. So then when you went to these little stores that you could travel for a second to try something new. I always remember those moment that's where we see our collaboration for example with war market that keep growing our collaboration with them because of that. I see a little bit of me in those shops like when you cannot afford to travel and you go there and you can find a little bit of of that. So in addition to

Speaker 4: Target, please share with us how and where we can find you on social, where we can buy your candy so we can enjoy a experience on the weekends.

Speaker 3: Is always open. We work with um about 3,000 little stores and I encourage you to look close to your community where we are. There's small boutiques, cheese shops, gourmet little retailers. We work with fair, this wholesale platform that helps the small businesses to get access to a lot of new products. And so we are in a lot of those little boutiques. That's where our heart goes to those small businesses. They're they're the ones that help us grow and discover new