‘I started a £10K business on maternity leave’
A mum has shared how she unintentionally started a five-figure a year business from her kitchen while she was on maternity leave by making her daughter's favourite sweets.
Emily Roberts, 25, from Swansea, Wales worked full time in retail before going on maternity leave to have her second daughter in May 2023.
After baby, Ffion, now one, was born in July 2023, Emily and her first-born, Eira-May, now four, decided to make their own marshmallows.
Bored of the typical vanilla flavourings, the mother and daughter duo decided to experiment with their own home-made flavours, turning their kitchen into "Willy Wonka's factory".
Amid the sound and smell of bubbling sugar and whipped caramel, the pair made tray after tray of marshmallows as they perfected their sweets.
They took the treats to local markets and quickly sold out, so started selling at bigger food fairs.
Since March, the business, called the Welsh Mallow Company, has made an impressive £10K and is doing so well Emily has decided not to return to her old job as demand for the sweets continues to rise.
"We started this just for the love of it," Emily explains.
"We thought it would be a bit of fun and then we'd maybe make a bit of pocket money.
"We weren't expecting this at all."
The mum-of-two says she chose the sweet treat to make as her and her daughter are "obsessed with marshmallows.
"Every time we see them we have to buy them," she says. "We are marshmallow treats.
"If we want a treat it's marshmallows every time - Wagon Wheels, Teacakes, and Snowballs."
Emily and Eira made their first batch of marshmallows in August 2023, and went on to make over 60 batches in the next three months to get the recipe right.
At first they say the mixture was either slushy or rock hard.
When the texture was right they experimented with different flavours, with Eira rifling through the kitchen cupboards for inspiration.
"We ate them all and some of them we really shouldn't have eaten because they weren't nice," Emily says.
"The two worst flavours were Twister lolly and barbecue sauce.
"But it was so much fun. We had such a lovely time making them.
"In theory marshmallows are easy to make, but actually it is actually quite stressful as the mixture has to be whipped just the right amount at a particular temperature."
Emily now makes her marshmallows three days a week, typically from 9am to 5pm and sells the sweet treats on both days at the weekend.
With her partner, Declan Reede, 25, who works in wholesale during the week, helping her to sell on a Saturday and Sunday she's able to get to four food fairs over the weekend.
The large marshmallows sell at four for £3.50 or six for £5 and are made of all natural ingredients.
Emily uses local honey or her homemade corn syrup, and natural colours.
She makes flavourings herself or buys in others made with natural ingredients.
"Blue raspberry is the top seller," Emily says.
Another popular flavour is honey and lavender, which Emily describes as tasting of Palma Violet sweets, and is made from lavender picked from a field near the family's home.
The company has about five core flavours, but Emily says she experiments with new combinations all the time and sell 12 different varieties every week.
Rhubarb and custard, and bubblegum are also popular flavours, while Eira's favourite is birthday cake flavour, which has sprinkles on the top.
"It's funny when you're eating them, because your brain tells you one thing and your mouth another," Emily says.
"You think rhubarb and custard will be a boiled sweet but it's squishy.
"And bubblegum tastes so much like bubblegum that you don't think you should swallow it."
Out of 1,000 young traders Emily was one of just 92 to make the regional finals of the British Young Traders awards.
Having started farmers markets and food fairs in March, she received a Prince TRUST's grant of around £1,800 to buy a bigger food mixer and more kitchen shelving in May.
That means Emily is now able to make around 1,000 marshmallows a week, selling out every time.
While she has made £10K since March she has reinvested the funds back into the business and is now working on selling online.
"We're just enjoying it so much," Emily says.
"We're lucky we can manage on Declan's income.
"This is the best thing I've ever done - it's a real family business.
"My kitchen is like Willy Wonka's factory.
"It's bright and happy and smells wonderful."
Additional reporting SWNS.
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