“Business Talks” with Polish brand "Cukrowka"

Where did the idea to sell fudges come from?

Hello Sweet! Good question! The idea appeared in my head a long time ago - about 4 years ago. But quite recently I started implementing this idea. The product itself, which is a fudge, comes from my hometown, where for over a decade, traditional and hand-made fudge has been produced. When the idea came back two years ago, I started a rather tedious research process. It turned out that there are many companies selling fudge on the market via the Internet. I saw, however, the chance of success in the form of distinguishing themselves from the competition. That's how it started.Who is behind the Cukrówka store? How many shepherds are there? - as you might funnily call it - your herd?In our current sweets company, including customer service, sales and marketing, there are a total of 6 Shepherds  However, the plans are to expand the herd with more cool and competent people like those I'm working with now!Since when has the store existed on the market? How did it start?As a brand, Cukrówka is in my opinion only a "baby crawling". We have been  in the market for exactly 1 year and 5 months. When did you realize that Cukrówka would start to generate income and it would start to pay off?From the beginning, I assumed that it was a kind of "fun" and I wanted to check my knowledge and put some crazy ideas to practice. However, due to the fact that I have been working in sales and marketing since always, I emphasized that the fudges would earn their money from the first day. The first sales peak, which I had no idea about before, due to the lack of knowledge of the industry, took place after 2 months. Then I saw that we have a great chance to conquer the market.What distinguishes Cukrówka in the sweet market?Our main distinguishing marks would be our communication and sweets marketing. The products are very similar to each other. A real gourmet will notice and point out the advantages of each fudge. On the other hand, the "common" fudge eater does not have such extensive knowledge about the production or crystallization of the candy - I mean the fragility that many people love. Do you occasionally sell fudges - what occasion is the most popular in your store?The most popular categories are Cukrówki for weddings and the ones for businesses that want to offer their clients a traditional Polish specialty. In addition, we periodically sell fudges on christenings, holy communion and other holidays such as Valentine's Day Do you sell your products stationary?No. Our main and only sales channel is the Internet.What does the production process of Polish fudge look like?Fudges are prepared in a large vat, the the ingredients are added to it,  and stirred constantly. The cooked fudge mass is then poured onto a special table and cooled down. When the mass freezes, the Shepherds cut a mass that resembles a long snake and then wraps them in personalized labels.Can you tell us who was your first customer?My friends. At the beginning, I informed all friends that could agree to such an offer. It was a good idea!How many fudges counted your largest order?The largest order placed was almost 2 tons of sweetness. 1 kg is about 72 fudges x 2000 kg = 144,000! All wrapped by hand.

What do you consider to be the greatest successes of Cukrówka?The real success has yet to come! The main long-term goal is export. When we mark on fudge maps of other countries, I will be very happy.And what was the worst thing that happened to the brand?Maybe not the worst, but sometimes it happens in every e-commerce: destroyed packages in transport that our customers receive.  It is a traumatic experience every time. Fortunately, we do well in such situations, quickly responding to the problem.I wonder where the biggest costs are hidden in running a shop with fudges.The biggest cost, that I would more rather call a permanent investment, is marketing. We invest the most to in providing a high level of services.

Your Instagram profile @cukrowka.pl has almost 10.5 thousand people following you. This is really a good number for your sweetness! Please tell me how you did it?It's true we have a lot of followers. Mainly thanks to regularity, nice and tasty photos and cross-media actions.How important is running Social Media for you from a sales point of view?Very important! This is our second sales channel. That's why we're working all the time to make sales grow with MS.How do you get such huge customers like Play?Most often they reach us through agencies that mediate purchases for large brands.

Your brand has existed for 1.5 years. In retrospect, what do you think has influenced the brand's market success?As I mentioned above - a lot of work and communication distinguishes us.How does Shoplo help you in your day-to-day business?I chose Shoplo because it is intuitive to use and can really boast about what I value the most - great support. I have to admit, I often come across various ideas to improve the function of the store. I then send an inquiry and I always get the answer after a few hours. This is very important to me. In addition, the stability of the platform makes it trouble-free in the long run.Tell us one thing, do you have your favorite fudge project that you have done?YES! What I like the most is our Christmas version of Cukrówka with reindeer horns.

Do you sell abroad? If so, where do orders come from most often?We sell abroad, but at the moment our clients are Poles living abroad. Most often these are countries: Germany, England and Ireland. We also have a clients from Italy and Spain. Do you have regular customers?They are the apple of my eye - customers that trust our brand and products. We take care of them in every aspect, by trying to show how much we care about them.Your Cukrówki are beautifully packaged! What does the planning process look like - are you coming up with proposals to the client or are you doing a ready project?It depends on the category. Sometimes we rely on template patterns that were prepared by our Shepherd-Designers, but we also prepare an individual project based on customer ideas. With fudges for companies it is easier, because it is usually a logo + elements distinguishing the brand - brand book.In your offer, you also have fudge flavours: mint, chocolate, coconut, coffee and beer (shock), which of these fudges are most often chosen by customers?We have many interesting flavours. The most common are mint and beer. However, mint is typically the Summer choice.Can you tell us a bit about your future plans?The main goal is to increase the market share from month to month. In addition, extend with sales on foreign markets.Last question - are you tired of eating fudges?Absolutely not! It's true that I'm not a big gulp, but for Cukrówka, I reach far more often than the bitter chocolate which I am a fan of.