Alumni Magazine - Fall 2008 - (Page 54) “A lot of shortbread companies use machines to produce their cookies. Our shortbread is hand placed in specialty molds. It’s labor intensive, but we think the product speaks for itself.” want to try something but you need something to happen? That happened, and I thought, ‘Why not? It’s the perfect opportunity to give this a try.’ I told my husband that I didn’t want to say later, ‘I really wish I’d tried that.’” For years, Potts had been giving as gifts what would become her signature product, seashell-shaped shortbread cookies in homage to the Georgia coast. “In 1993 my husband and I bought a cottage in Darien, Georgia,” she says. “Our first products were the Shortbread Coquilles and the toffee, which we had shared with our neighbors there. “A lot of shortbread companies use machines to produce their cookies. Our shortbread is hand placed in specialty molds. It’s labor intensive, but we think the product speaks for itself,” Potts says. Potts designed the logo and packaging and, through a friend, arranged to lease the commercial kitchen at the Bona Allen Mansion in Buford, Ga. She unveiled her products to wholesale buyers at the Atlanta Gourmet Market at the AmericasMart in 2006. “We won best in show for our booth for outstanding visual display. We were awarded several Best of Atlanta designations with our Chocolate Dipped Coquilles and Sweet Almond Toffee. Our executive gift box won first place for packaging. I was stunned,” Potts says. “We wrote a lot of orders that first show as a result of those awards.” Now in its fourth year, Sugar Marsh Cottage will turn a profit in 2008. “Seventy-five percent of our business is wholesale,” she says. “We now have over 250 customers, and over 150 stores carry our products. Most of the shops are in and around the Southeast, but we do ship to New York and to California.” She describes the first time she saw her cookies in a store as “exhilarating. Then the architect in me came out. I had to critique each package. If a ribbon wasn’t just right, I’d straighten the ribbon and tag.” Sugar Marsh Cottage now sells three shortbread cookies, five confections and three gift boxes. The Island Box contains six Shortbread Coquilles, six Chocolate Dipped Coquilles, half a pound of Sweet Almond Toffee, 12 Cattails (chocolate-dipped pretzels), six white chocolate mint Angel Wings and a three-and-a-half-inch Praline Coconut Tartlette for $75. Each piece is individually packaged and tucked under layers of polka-dotted cellophane in a sturdy white box tied up with a thick chartreuse grosgrain ribbon. Now with five part-time employees, Potts hasn’t relied on half-baked ideas to expand her business. “I studied other companies that I thought were similar to ours. I did utilize the Small Business Association. They conducted a focus study for me. I know the quantity of product I can produce in a certain amount of time, and I know the amount of ingredients it takes to do that,” she says. “Early on I did a rudimentary flowchart for my production. “We are seeking more key corporate wholesale accounts like Williams-Sonoma and other large gourmet specialty food people,” Potts says. “We’re not the type of product that’s sold in grocery stores. We’re a gourmet gift.” Sugar Marsh Cottage products also are sold through its own Web site and are being added to the online Gourmet Food Mall, Potts says. “We are going to have a virtual storefront with five products on their Web site.” Potts remains the Sugar Marsh Cottage CEO, research and development department and head baker — and she answers the phone when brides-to-be call to place custom orders. “We produce wedding favors containing two Angel Wings in a petite package with a custom ribbon in the bride’s colors. Then we will prepare a little custom tag with the bride and groom’s names and the wedding date. They’re really pretty. We had a little blurb in Elegant Bride magazine last winter,” she says. “I have fun with special projects like that. I like to have the personal contact because we do specialize in the custom tags and custom gifts. “I don’t want our company to be in a position where we accept an order we can’t produce. We’ve grown slowly, and we want to continue to expand. We know what our limitations are.” GT 54 Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Fall 2008
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