The 3 S's

Seasonal, Sweet and Sugar...

Wait a minute! One of these doesn't quite fit! Luckily for our bodies, the only two that fall inline with Chewy Seconds are seasonal and sweet. That's just what this past week has been all about!

Recipe testing takes patience and many hungry bellies... one of which was hard to come by this week. All in the name of progress, right!? As I dove deep in the fresh pressed juices of our favourite produce that wasn't quite right for consumer purchase, my imagination was running on a hamster wheel. With all that mental exercise I developed the following flavour combinations:

• Triple Citrus: Blood Orange, Tangerine, Cantaloupe
• Berry Right: Golden Berry, Blackberry, Strawberry
• C Bomb: Mango, Lemon, Turmeric
• Tropical Sunshine: Guava, Kiwi, Papaya

An interesting development in my research this week was in regards to the produce items that were deemed unfit for sale. While I had anticipated for these to mostly be seasonal favourites such as oranges and grapefruit, my surprise boxes ended up being imported fruits that the consumer passed over. I infer the reasoning behind this to be that consumers are cautiously choosing where and how they spend their dollars. When they notice an imported and out of season item, they know the flavour profile won't stand up to the high ticket price. For this reason my box included variations that I was excited to transform into sweet gummies!

As I clean up my dishes I find myself daydreaming about where Chewy Seconds can take off to. The sky is the limit and I'm aiming to reach it! We're past some roadblocks and onto the gummy bear valleys ahead.  I promised I'd let you in on the secret behind our minimal waste business model sooner than later and you may be in luck! That'll come as soon as next week while the next few days are focused on refining the processes currently in place. There's always room for improvement and that's exactly the goal to achieve.

As I clean up the mounds of pulp and dishes galore, I sneak a few too many gummies as reward. Stopping to reflect on our accomplishments tastes pretty darn sweet!

Until next week, you know the drill!

"gummy bears" (online image). Retrieved from https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/homemade-gummy-bears-3686862