Newlyweds Jeanie and Curtis Wright make the only certified glacier taffy in the world
Alaskans are known for their hardy, independent spirit. Jeanie Wright certainly has that: her determination to succeed in a wild and sometimes difficult environment is impressive. In just eight months, Jeanie and husband Curtis researched, conceived, and opened their small Anchorage confection business. But any spoil sport will tell you: will power and hard work don’t always bake into a successful recipe. It’s a good thing Jeanie had a few other ingredients: her spirit, stirred in with some ingenuity and simmered with some problem solving made a flourishing (and delicious) small business operation.
Jeanie and Curtis Wright pose with their winning gingerbread house at this year’s Christmas Arts and Crafts Emporium.
Alaskan Sweet Thing’s certainly didn’t start off sweet: after a 3,000-thousand-mile trip to Oregon and back – sampling taffy and fudge along the way – Jeanie and Curtis returned to Anchorage with a U-Haul filled with 16,000 pounds of equipment and nowhere to land. After scouring the city, Jeanie finally found a former pizza restaurant in East Anchorage that needed major renovations. It could have been the final financial setback for a number of other small business owners. Money was tight, but Jeanie had one final flourish: confidence in her product.
Jeanie’s most popular item is her beer flavored popcorn.
Jeanie’s Alaskan taffy is the only glacier certified taffy in the world. It comes in Alaskan flavors like fireweed and loganberry, and inventive flavors like hot buttered rum and Kahula. Unique flavor combinations inspire Jeanie. Her perfect day comes with a new idea to tantalize her customer’s taste buds – one of her latest creations is “Midnight Sun Mix,” which combines unusual flavors like caramel and pumpkin pie with cranberry, eggnog, and sunflower seeds. It was an instant hit. “We like to say, we make confections, but we create smiles!”
Surprisingly, at least to Jeanie, her glacier taffy isn’t the most popular item at Alaskan Sweet Thing’s. A partnership with Alaskan Brewing Company has produced some interesting popcorn flavors. The smoked porter beer with peanuts and Alaskan amber beer with sea salt are top sellers: not surprising to the many Alaska beer aficionados who keep Jeanie and her husband busy popping corn beyond the summer tourist season.
Jeanie trains an employee at her Muldoon store, Alaskan Sweet Thing’s.
The past 6 years have been a learning curve for Jeanie and the reason she’s been so successful is perhaps her ability to pivot according to her customer’s demands. The first few years, the Wrights focused on festivals – which were a wild success. Even after the expenses of travel, lodging, and cost of goods, the couple was making money. However, the logistics were exhausting and time consuming. The couple shifted their focus to retail, opening a second location on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in 2016. However, the surprise deployment of about half of Alaska’s troops coupled with a brand-new mall outside the gates of the base were challenges they imply couldn’t overcome. Jeanie closed the doors after less than a year. After that, her focus shifted to wholesale. You can now find peanut butter fudge and white chocolate candy cane popcorn at more than 60 locations across the state – from Kodiak to Skagway and Denali all the way up to Prudhoe Bay. This year, they added cruise ships to their customer base and partnered with Alaska’s largest brewery, Alaskan Brewing Company, on a gift package.
Jeanie watches while Curtis pulls the first batch of taffy, circa 2013.
Jeanie has also changed her products and recipes to fit the market: chocolate wasn’t as profitable as popcorn so that was eliminated. A few simple tweaks to some of her recipes brought more business from vegan and gluten free customers. The discovery that she could buy pallet loads of core ingredients at Costco came with a huge cost savings – but created new problems: cash flow and space. Creative use of the 16-foot ceilings at her store and renting storage space are Jeanie’s solutions while she looks for a larger space.
Jeanie delights in coming up with new flavors to tantalize her customer’s taste buds.
Alaskan Sweet Thing’s is a female owned business – at least for now. Jeanie’s husband insisted she retain sole ownership until her initial investment is paid off. While that comes with certain advantages, Jeanie calls her husband the creative juice and heartbeat of the business – saying it would be nothing without him. For his part, Curtis says Jeanie is his inspiration, which is why there’s that possessive apostrophe at the end of the business’ name: Jeanie is HIS sweet thing. Are you craving a snack after all this sappy talk? Don’t worry – Jeanie and Curtis ship their Alaska convection’s just about anywhere in the world. They’re sure you’ll fall in love with their unique candy – just like they fell in love with each other building their brand and their small business.
Jeanie and Curtis are sweet on each other – perhaps that’s what makes their sugary business a success!
