WHEN Jodie Neilson started selling chocolates as a side hustle at her local markets, she thought they might pay for the occasional pair of shoes — at best.
But fast forward a few years, and the 45-year-old’s business, New Farm Confectionery, is on track to turn over a staggering $1.5 million this year.
She said she still couldn’t believe her hobby had turned into such a lucrative venture.
“It started out with me at home making things to sell at the local markets which I thought might just buy me a pair of shoes occasionally,” Ms Neilson said.
“I never thought it would become a real business like it is now, five years later. I never dreamt it would grow like this.”
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She said she had loved baking since childhood.
“I’m a huge fan of confectionery and lollies in general. I don’t discriminate — I love everything sweet,” she said.
“It sounds so cliche but when people asked me when I was a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said a ‘licker and stirrer’. I was trying to say I wanted to be a cook and it’s now a family joke that I’m the only one who has become what they wanted to be as a child, but I took quite a few detours before I got there.”
Ms Neilson started her working life as a personal assistant after she asked a friend to sign her up to “anything” at TAFE while she was visiting her mother in hospital.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I left school ... I went into admin purely because mum was ill and my friend signed me up, to be honest,” she said.
But after moving back to Australia after a stint in New York, Ms Nielson decided to ditch the daily grind and start her chef’s apprenticeship in 2002.
In 2013, Ms Nielson launched New Farm Confectionery at the age of 40 after working for many years in the hospitality industry.
She said her company had managed to thrive in a difficult retail climate thanks to its unique business model.
“It’s grown by quite a large amount each year, and last year especially,” Ms Nielson said.
“We recently moved location to a much bigger space and we’ve also increased our retail side and moved into the pop-up world, which we’ve found has worked really well.
“Standard retail experiences involve going up to a counter to be served, but we’re not like that. We wanted to be different so we jumped on board the pop-up wheel.”
New Farm Confectionery can be found at several Queensland shopping centres, with more pop-up locations in the pipeline.
Products can be purchased online and are also sold through a range of Queensland stockists, while there is also a wholesale branch of the business.
“Our store experience is different from a standard one and we are growing the business that way and online and through our wholesale side,” Ms Nielson said.
“It’s not the best time in the world for retail but I think our point of difference means we can keep overheads low because we don’t have a traditional fit out.
“We also offer a personal, premium experience and all our staff are very well versed in what New Farm Confectionery is all about and what goes into the products.”
Ms Nielson said she now planned on expanding the company into other states and even overseas, with a particular focus on China.
She said another factor in the company’s success was a partnership with the Square point of sale system, which allowed customers to be served anywhere — including at pop-ups, festivals and even over the phone — without having to be restricted to a traditional counter and cash register.
She said in the lead up to Easter, chocolate eggs had been “flying off the shelves” while chocolate honeycomb was the company’s biggest seller.
New Farm Confectionery also produces gluten and dairy-free treats as well as vegan products and brittles, caramel, sherbet, chocolates, rocky road, marshmallows and nougat.
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