ARTICLE AS APPEARED
IN THE TRACY PRESS, TRACY, CALIFORNIA
12/2004
“Jim and Beckie have been
selling their specialty fudge up and down the Central Valley for about five
years now. They peddle their exquisite
wares at street fairs, craft shows and home and garden shows—just about
anywhere they can set up a booth and entice passers-by with melt-in-your-mouth samples.
Word of mouth is a powerful
thing in the valley, and it’s not uncommon to overhear folks espousing on the
virtues of the famous fudge—and still less common to see anyone pass the Granny
Ruth’s Fudge stall without veering into its shade.
Speaking of common practices,
there are two well-known ways to enjoy a box of the lovingly prepared
confection: Eat it all at once or pop
it in the freezer and eat one at a time during the course of the month to
reward yourself for doing something great.
It’s that yummy.
These are no
brew-it-in-Granny’s kitchen concoctions.
With every preparation, be it chocolate plain or raspberry, Jim and
Beckie marry real food ingredients Granny would be proud of with modern
technology in a licensed kitchen. Their
standards are high from choice of ingredients to choice of preparation
area. They want you to taste the
quality and trust it at the same time.
Just like Granny, Jim and Beckie Ruth put their hearts into every batch of
fudge. It is, after all, a sweet
reflection of who they are.
Our Town: Why fudge? What is it
about fudge and making fudge that made you decide to build an entire business
around it?
Beckie Ruth: My mother always made fudge during the holidays and it was
terrible. I knew I could do
better. I took a generic recipe and worked for many years to get
the recipe that we use today. I am
always tweaking the recipe and trying to improve it.
I once had a marriage proposal
because of my fudge. A customer said,
‘This fudge is superb. Would you marry
me?’
Jim Ruth: Beckie has always made fudge and everyone told her she should
sell it.
Beckie: I used to give my fudge away.
One day, I looked on the Internet to see how much boxes cost and to my
amazement, I had to order the minimum order of 100. I thought I would never sell that many boxes. Well, I sold those 100 and had to order more
boxes to fill more orders. Since then
the company has been snowballing. The
word of mouth is a wonderful thing.
Jim:
I had to retire because of
an industrial injury to his neck that made him unable to drive
professionally. When I couldn’t drive
any more, the insurance company asked what type of work I wanted to train
for. I said I wanted to make and sell
fudge. They looked at what we had
already accomplished and agreed to help us get started.
OT:
What kinds of adjustments did you have to make in your life to make this
business what it is?
Beckie: Unfortunately, I think Jim has had to make more adjustments than
me. I still work three days a week in
San Francisco and Jim runs the business from home. We have a very tight schedule, but somehow he keeps it together.
Jim:
Beckie gave up the most. She
gets up at 4 a.m. and gets home at 5 p.m.
After dinner we start working on the company. Beckie rarely gets a day off, hardly ever misses a day at her job
and she gives up most of her week-ends to do shows.
Beckie:
Our weekends are not as free as I would like so that we can visit
our children and grandchildren, but it is very satisfying knowing that your own
business is growing and thriving because of all of the efforts you have put
forth. I am very happy with our little
company and how we have grown.
OT:
What’s it like working together?
Who does what in the business?
Jim:
Beckie and I work very well together. We each have our strong points.
I do all the grunt work, loading the equipment, shopping, booking shows,
delivering fudge, etc. Beckie keeps all
the books and does all the paperwork.
We both cook, cut, wrap and sell fudge.
Beckie: Working with Jim has strengthened our marriage. We work together, play together and travel
together. This company came along just
at the right time. The kids were out of
the house and sometimes it is tough to find similar interests. The company involves us both all the
time. Our special time is when we
travel back and forth from shows. We
talk a lot.
OT:
What makes your fudge so popular,
and how do people find out about it?
Where and how do you sell it and why have you chosen to do it this way?
Beckie:
Since we have no store front, people hear about our fudge through
our shows and word of mouth.
Jim:
We choose to sell our fudge through shows—craft, home and garden etc. We offer free samples to everyone who walks
past our booth. Our fudge is a soft and
smooth fudge and we offer 23 flavors, from chocolate plain to pumpkin pie plus
four low-carb flavors. By going out to
the people we give them the chance to taste it.
Beckie:
I think our fudge is unique because we cut each flavor into separate
1-by 1-inch squares. When you pack a
bag or box you can mix and match flavors.
This allows you to try all of the flavors and not one slab as fudge is
usually sold. Our fudge is a soft and
creamy fudge with no graininess.
At our shows, you can see the delight in our customers’ eyes as they pick and
choose the flavors and pack their bags or boxes. Also, when someone receives a box of our assortment fudge, we
have been told that trying all the flavors is like having a party.
OT:
Where and how often do you
make the fudge? How much do you make at
a time?”
JIM:
We make fudge about once a month in the summer and more often in the
cooler months. We rent our kitchen
space from the ‘Bar & Restaurant Supply Co.’ on 10th Street in
Tracy. We usually make from 60 to 120
lbs. at a time.
BECKIE: We cook in a licensed kitchen in Tracy and we try to use the
kitchen as often as possible, especially when there is a show around the
corner. We try to make 150 pounds at
each cooking.
OT:
What do you do for your customers
that’s above and beyond the norm?
Why? What makes you go the extra
mile?
JIM:
We are friends to our customers.
In the five years we have met a lot of great people who come to shows so
we can see how the kids have grown or to tell us what people said when they
received the box of fudge as a gift.
All we sell is friendship, honesty and a little box of memories.
BECKIE: One of the things we do to make up for not having a storefront is
offer free delivery.
JIM:
We’re very flexible with that.
OT:
What kind of business do you do
at this time of the year? Does the
business keep you on your toes seasonally or all year round? Why or why not?
JIM: From November through December we keep very busy. We start getting heavy orders just before
Thanksgiving, but Christmas is by far our biggest sales time. We have several companies that use us for
gift giving and we have many repeat customers each year. We even have families that come to our shows
and they bring their holiday list with names and addresses printed out for us
to send to.
We sell and ship fudge all year but the cooler months are the best for sales.
BECKIE: The holiday season is definitely our busiest time of the year, especially
when we have holiday shows scheduled, but we stay very busy the whole year
round.
OT:
What are your favorite
fudges? Do you sample other peoples’
fudge?
JIM: My favorite fudge is usually the newest, because I haven’t been
eating it for five years. The maple
nut, raspberry and orange sherbet fudges are great. I nibble on them all the time.
We do sample other fudges, some are good and some are bad.
BECKIE:
When we do sample other people’s fudge we are often surprised to
find out that most fudge makers us a paraffin wax to extend the life of their
fudge. This definitely distracts from
the creamy taste that our fudge recipe creates.
OT:
What does the future hold for you?
BECKIE: Hopefully, the future has a
warehouse in it for us so that we can sell in stores. I think we have a potential of growing even bigger once I retire,
which should be within the next couple of years. I would love to see our fudge boxes being sold in stores.
What a treat.
JIM:
In the future we would love
to get into stores. We are almost
ready. The company has never lost money
and has increased dramatically in five years.
We have had offers from investors in the past but we want to do things right,
not fast. When the time is right we
will make that move.”
JIM RUTH’S BIO:
Occupation: Retired; co-owner of Granny
Ruth’s Fudge.
How Long in Tracy?: 11 years.
Hails from: Baltimore, Maryland via San
Lorenzo. I came to California in 1966
with the U.S. Navy (NAS Lemoore). We
moved from San Lorenzo to Tracy because of affordable housing.
Children: Jeff Ruth and Jennifer Noska,
both living in Tracy.
Grandchildren: Jeff and Karen have two
girls, Jessica and Megan. Jennifer and
Robert have three children: Kayla,
Austin and Owen.
Pet: “Matty,” a Great Dane.
Favorite ways to relax: I relax playing
golf.
Favorite Fudge: “Maple Nut”—the small
gets me all the time.
Life philosophy: Treat everyone with
respect. Also, children are our
greatest assets.
BECKIE RUTH’S BIO:
Occupation: Legal secretary to a large Intellectual
property law firm in San Francisco.
How Long in Tracy?: 11 years
What brought her here: We left the Bay
Area in order to better afford a new home and we love the feel of a small
town. Shortly after moving to Tracy,
our two married children followed us and both of them and their families now
live in Tracy.
Children: Two, Jeff Ruth and Jennifer
Noska.
Grandchildren: Five.
Pet: We have a Great Dane who thinks
she is a lap dog.
Favorite ways to relax: I love to read,
listen to good music and travel.
Favorite Fudge: Coconut Almond.
Life philosophy: The glass is half-full
instead of half-empty.
