Candy can be the perfect sweet pick-me-up or a treat to show someone you’re thinking about them. Whether it’s a special occasion or you just want to make the day special, you can find a variety of tasty, homemade treats at The Birmingham Candy Company.
Cassie and Wayne Bolden started the candy business in Hoover, giving the area a local shop to satisfy its sweet tooth. They currently work out of a commercial kitchen on Lorna Lane.
Cassie, a Spain Park graduate, and Wayne met during college. Wayne has been in the confectionary business for about a decade and worked with candy stores in Georgia. He’s done everything from being a head cook to packaging and shipping.
“I love sweets. I’ve always had a soft spot for sweets,” Wayne explains. “Growing up, my mom would make candy and other stuff.”
While Cassie doesn’t have a background in the candy business, she really complements Wayne and brings her design background and marketing skills to the table.
They have a variety of decorate apples, including caramel chocolate, caramel peanut, apple pie and cookies-and-cream chocolate caramel.
The couple started The Birmingham Candy Company on a rainy day in October 2015 at The Market at Pepper Place. Despite the weather, they nearly sold out.
“People would ask, ‘When did Birmingham get a candy company,’” Cassie recalls. “We said, ‘Well, you just did today.’”
Since then, they have brought their treats to markets at places like Ross Bridge, Mt Laurel and The Summit.
“We love being face-to-face with our customers,” Wayne adds. “That’s why we love doing farmers’ markets and festivals. It’s great seeing the smiles on their faces when they sample our candy.”
“We love meeting our customers — each and every one of them,” Cassie adds. “That’s the best part of it.”
The couple has a large menu to satisfy every sweets lover. Their chocolate caramel pecan paws currently are the top-selling item. They are similar to turtles and have pecans with homemade caramel and chocolate on top.
Other popular items are their traditional southern praline, chocolate and caramel marshmallow pops, caramel bites, chocolate truffles, praline pecans and peanut brittle.
“Everybody loves candy,” Cassie says. “Either you’re a kid or a kid at heart.”
They also make a wide variety of caramel apples like apple pie, cookies and cream, caramel chocolate, candy and traditional caramel flavors.
“Apples cross over all boundaries from kids all the way up to adults,” Cassie says. Her favorite item they make is actually their apples.
For Wayne, he especially likes the truffles, which they started creating for Valentine’s Day. Their truffle boxes come an assortment of six flavors: dark chocolate with sea salt, strawberry cheesecake, white chocolate, caramel, milk chocolate and pomegranate.
“They are perfect for when I want a pick me up and just need something sweet,” Wayne says. “It’s my go-to.”
In addition to their normal menu items, they create seasonal items for holidays like Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas. They also bring their sweets to baby showers, weddings and other special events.
“There’s never a downtime in the candy business because when you’re happy, you want something sweet to celebrate, and when you’re sad, you want something sweet to console you,” Wayne says with a laugh.
The couple is passionate about their candy business, something that’s easy to see when you meet them.
“We pour our blood, sweat, tears and love into everything we do,” Wayne says. “It’s like giving a little piece of ourselves. It’s why it’s such a pay off when we give the candy to people.”
Although they currently don’t have a storefront, the couple says they hope to have one by this fall or winter.
“This came from Birmingham: This is our hometown. I want to grow this company to be a hometown, southern candy store that people in Birmingham, Hoover and other places in the area can be proud to call their own,” Wayne says. “We call ourselves The Birmingham Candy Company for a reason, and that’s because we’re proud to be here and represent the area as a whole.”
Their commercial kitchen is located at 3439 Lorna Lane in Hoover, and they offer local pickup at the kitchen on Wednesdays. They also personally deliver orders locally Tuesdays and Fridays and ship nationwide.
“We want it to be a great, fun experience for families,” Cassie says.
For more information, visit Birminghamcandycompany.com, Instagram (@Birminghamcandy) or their Facebook page.
