Something sweet: Cape Breton woman sells freeze-dried candy out of her home

You could say it’s a sweet business idea that is paying delicious dividends.

To walk into Candice Mugford's Westmount, N.S., basement is a bit like opening the door to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

However, instead of chocolate, the Cape Breton mother deals in freeze-dried candy.

"So we started this business back in February,” Mugford explained. “Our daughter had braces on, and she wasn't able to eat the sticky, chewy candy."

Mugford and her husband then went out and bought a freeze-dryer, which quickly turned into an idea to make some extra cash.

Now the couple runs her small business, Candy Frost, out of their home.

"We are actually in a lot of the local stores in CBRM now, as well as a couple in Halifax,” Mugford said, talking about her venture’s early success.

The back room of the couple’s basement is stocked with 23 different kinds of candy, which arrives packaged the same way you would find it in a corner store.

Then, the candy is put onto what resembles a baking sheet, before being placed into what looks a bit like a washing machine.

"The regular store-bought candy goes in on trays into the freeze-dryer, and they take 12 to 48 hours to freeze-dry. Each candy is different,” Mugford said.

Some candy ends up not looking fairly similar in size to the original, while the freeze-dried forms of others come out oversized.

Everything is sealed and packaged on site, and when she's not making the candy Mugford is on their website taking online orders.

Soon, she says, their candy should be available on a whole new set of shelves.

"We'll be in Sobeys, Needs, Foodland and Co-Op across all of Atlantic Canada. Come Friday, we'll start shipping,” Mugford said.

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