Mel’s Toffee, Playground Treat Expands to 26 States
Growing up, Michelle Williamson’s mother always told her not to play with her food. Now, years later, she’s the mastermind behind award-winning Mel’s Toffee, with playful flavors ranging from “Ballpark Crunch” to lavender and Mexican hot chocolate.
“I always wanted to start a food company of some kind,” Williamson says. “Now I get to play with my food every day.”
Williamson hasn’t always been a candy maker, but her passion for food stretches back to high school and college, where she paid for her own education by working in fast food and then fine dining.
“When you’re working with food, you want to know more and learn more about it,” Williamson says. “Once you get the food hook inside you, it’s hard to get out. Food is in you then.”
Williamson graduated with a degree in corporate health from Central Michigan University, then worked in cardiology for nearly a decade until she had her daughters, who are the inspiration behind the name, Mel’s Toffee.
“Mel’s stands for me and my two daughters—Michelle, Erin and Lauren,” says Williamson. “My husband, Glen, didn’t make the cut, but he’s really right by my side.”
When her daughters started school, Williamson wondered what her next step might be. That’s when her love for food came back with vigor.
“I started off making five-layer pretzels, and that morphed into chocolate turtles, then caramel apples, and then different types of barks and chocolate-covered Oreos,” she says. “I realized I needed to come up with one thing and make it well. So, I made toffee. Batch after batch.”
As the girls entered grade school, Williamson sent toffee with them as a treat. Lunchtime sharing turned her toffee into a community favorite.
“My girls would break off pieces of toffee for their friends on the playground, and then their parents started calling,” Williamson remembers. “I knew that I needed to do something with this.”
Williamson officially launched Mel’s Toffee in 2014, growing from playground treats to nine flavors in 26 states—Sea Salt Pretzel, Maple Bourbon Pecan, Plain Jane, Peanut Butter, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Ballpark Crunch, CEO Stout, Gingerbread Crunch and Lavender. Mel’s has since joined the Specialty Food Association. She hopes this will increase exposure and help her reach the rest of the country.
While her brand goes national, Williamson still makes all of her toffee herself, spending five to 14 hours in the kitchen daily, depending on the demand.
“I’m doing it all by myself on the stove. It’s hand-chopped and hand-packed,” Williamson says.
In addition to sourcing many of her ingredients from Michigan companies, Williamson actively collaborates with and honors her Michigan home. Her Ballpark Crunch toffee, which is available at Comerica Park, uses the Detroit Tigers’ team colors for its label. She has also collaborated with Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City, MI, using their stout in her CEO Stout flavor, which includes espresso as well as beer.
As Mel’s Toffee reaches its sixth birthday, Williamson still has the same goal as she did on day one.
“I hope that people who try my toffee will want to finish the bag right then and there,” Williamson says. “Like the tagline says, one bite is never enough.”
Mel’s Toffee
melstoffee.com
