Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfonso Porras. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Over 25 years ago, Sir Walter was founded by Alfonso and Alejandra Porras. Their dream started when, as a child, Alfonso received books and recipes from Walter Zittle. Time later, with his young family, Alfonso, and Alejandra built a custom trailer where they started to make confections and sold them at local farmers’ markets in Los Angeles. They later on opened a retail shop in Monrovia California.
After a few years in the confections industry, they felt there was an opportunity to serve a market that was asking for specialty Artisans to produce large orders. Sir Walter moved to Salt Lake City and this time the company opened a factory. With the years recipes were perfected and little by little equipment was bought to help with production capabilities. After many years the company has mastered the art of candy and serves many customers locally and across the USA with delicious and mouth-watering confections.
The company continues to grow and soon it will move to a 36,000-foot facility where they continue to keep the art of candy making alive and will be able to open a large retail location where customers can see the candy being made.
“Our goal is to become the ultimate sweet indulgence destination.”
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Sir Walter has had many obstacles along the way. From our very first start building the first trailer was a challenge to build a mini candy store to go around in a time when that was very unusual so we had to spend a lot more time and money than we first thought. Finding a place where we could sell to the right customer was a struggle but with a lot of work, we found great opportunities. Later when people loved our products they asked us where was our store, so we did open one but with plenty of challenges.
We then had to learn to make so many different products and gifts so that the store could stay profitable. Finally moving to Salt Lake was a big challenge, moving to a place with no relationships or customers was difficult so we had many days when we struggled to pay rent and employees but we never gave up. Along the way, we always found someone with a reference, knowledge, or something that allowed us to continue to run. We did have many sleepless nights many ups and downs, and long working hours but as a family, we pulled it together, and with sacrifices, we have been able to continue to serve our customers and find new opportunities.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Sir Walter Candy?
Sir Walter Candy is a company that specializes in making people smile and makes confections that are more than just a treat. We have mastered the art of specialty candy.
We help our customers find, create, and produce mouth-watering confections that will make them feel special and connect with their customers. From ideation to final labeling. We are proud to be family-owned and help people create memories with our products.
How do you think about luck?
Along our path, we have been lucky to always find people who have contributed to our company in many ways.
Friends that helped build our trailer or even stored it in their homes. Mentors that had helped us learn something about our industry. Networking groups have sent us to a customer or a learning program and so many other people who somehow have come to us at the right time to help us build our dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: sirwaltercandy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sirwaltercandy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=sir%20walter%20candy%20co
