About Us

“These are kick ass!! You should sell them and call them Kick Ass Caramels!”

— my daughter, the day the name was born

I needed the extra money, so I didn’t argue. Alongside my full-time nursing career, I started selling caramels. It was a side hustle born out of necessity. Ten years later, it’s a whole lot bigger, and a whole lot stickier.

Caramel is not for the faint of heart

Turns out caramel is a diva. One degree too high or too low and the whole batch is headed for the garbage. We learned that the hard way, repeatedly. My whole family took a turn at the stove: my sister-in-law, daughter, son, daughter-in-law, parents, step kids, husband, brothers and other sister-in-law. We spent countless hours testing, failing, swearing (a lot) and trying again. It took serious stubbornness and a few battle scars to perfect the recipe we’re known for today.

Once you try them, you’re hired

My parents packaged caramels any time we needed them and cheered loud enough for the whole neighbourhood to hear. Even my 85-year-old ex-mother-in-law signed up, because apparently once you taste these caramels, you’re hired. No interview required.

These days my husband and my nephew work beside me every day. Two years ago, I brought on a business partner, and somewhere between the sugar burns and the Christmas rush, he became family too. Extended family still drops everything to help when things get busy. At Christmas, things get very busy. We’ve seriously discussed putting bunk beds in the back. We’re mostly joking, we say.

From tiny kitchen to copper kettles

Our first commercial kitchen was about the size of my office today. You couldn’t turn around without bumping into someone or something hot.

Our next move felt huge: room for 15 induction burners going at once. We thought we’d made it.

Then this year, we moved into a 5,000 sq ft space and finally upgraded to large copper cookers. That’s a long way from one pot on a home stove. Our vintage wrapping machine got an upgrade too, but we couldn’t part with the original. It’s retired in our store and her name is Vivienne, so stop in and say hi.

No shortcuts. Ever.

We’ve grown, but our standards haven’t moved an inch. Every small batch is still cooked the old-fashioned way in our federally inspected kitchen in Stony Plain. We don’t cut corners, and we don’t rush the process. The diva gets what the diva wants.