Better Candy Bar with Stu Davidoff of Gigantic
Traditional candy bars have a LOT of sugar. And, while it may not be great for our health, most of us still believe that our taste buds prefer that level of sweetness. But what if the optimal level of sweetness were actually way more subtle than we thought, and required only a small amount of sugar? Joining us today is Stu Davidoff, Founder of Gigantic Candy Bars, to talk about his mission to create a better ‘sorta sweet’ candy bar with less junk and more fun. He tells us about the formulation process behind their products, how they hit the perfect level of sweetness, and their commitment to sourcing better, healthier, and more ethical ingredients. We get into the typical junk you can expect to find in most candy bars, why most people don’t even notice his products have less sugar, and the instrumental lessons he’s learned after three years on the market. If you want to learn more about how to find that sweet spot, whether it’s in business or with candy bars, be sure to tune in!
Key Points From This Episode:
The story behind the founding of Gigantic Candy Bars.
What inspired Stu to create his ‘sorta sweet’ candy bars.
How they found the perfect level of sweetness for their products.
Why most people don’t notice the reduced sugar in Gigantic products.
The excessive amount of sugar (and other junk) found in most candy bars.
Why Stu chose to prioritize non-GMO ingredients.
Entrenched supply chain issues within the cocoa industry.
Gigantic’s commitment to sourcing only fair trade cocoa.
Their decision to only use plant-based, vegan ingredients.
How they formulated vegan caramel for their candy bars.
Other iterations on the traditional candy bar, and why Stu found them lacking.
Ways that brands mislead consumers about the sugar contents of their products.
Instrumental lessons Stu has learned after three years on the market.
We end with our set of rapid-fire questions for Stu!
“The goal wasn't to pump the sweetness back up to the level of a traditional candy bar. It was to leave the sweetness level at a level that I thought was more balanced, where you can taste these other things that are going on in the product.” — Stu Davidoff [0:09:32]
“We tried to hit that sweetness level where it's just enough for a candy bar. And that's all you need. Why would you want any more?” — Stu Davidoff [0:20:23]
“I got into this industry, and I thought it'd be simple.” — Stu Davidoff [0:30:25]
“The way that all the pricing and stuff works behind the scenes, and who's getting what, it's really hard to navigate and a lot more onerous and complex than I expected.” — Stu Davidoff [0:30:43]
“As humans, we consume – we biologically need to consume. And there's going to be some inherent challenges in making sure we don't do harm in that process, especially with so many of us.” — Stu Davidoff [0:36:03]
