Baking & Snack - September 2014 - 142

NEW PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

for All
Golden Cannoli's chips are making
the decadent dessert a household word.

While traditional cannoli
can be seen as a "fancy"
type of dessert, Golden
Cannoli's cannoli chips
are a more everyday
dessert item.
Golden Cannoli

You never know when simple serendipity is going to
shake up the market and change the course of your business. Just ask Golden Cannoli, a second-generation cannoli manufacturer based in Chelsea, MA.
While exhibiting at the International Dairy-DeliBakery Association tradeshow a few years back, sisters
Valerie Bono, vice-president of sales and marketing, and
Maria Malloy, vice-president of marketing and advertising, had to quickly find a solution when they started
to run out of their signature cannoli shells to sample at
their booth. "We started breaking the shells in half and
giving out little pieces with just a cup of the filling," Ms.
Bono recalled. Instantly, they had a hit on their hands.
For the next trade show, Golden Cannoli employed
the "chip" concept as an exhibit strategy. Instead of
folding the shells, they put the product into the fryer
flat and broke them into pieces to dip into the filling.
"Thousands of samples later, people kept telling us, 'This
is amazing,' and we knew we had changed the use of cannoli," Ms. Bono said.
Today, Golden Cannoli's cannoli chips are purposeful
- and rather successful - products making their way
across the country in retailers and restaurants. "It just
kind of happened without having to spend crazy money
and time in product development," she explained.
Typically known as a specialty item more popular
during fourth-quarter holidays, cannoli in the form of
chips or a chip-and-dip combo becomes an everyday
item. "October through January is like 'cannoli craziness,' " Ms. Bono explained, "but this brings it outside

142 Baking & Snack September 2014 / www.bakingandsnack.com

that timeframe. People will bring them to a cookout or
just over to a friend's house."
This "Americanized" version of cannoli, as Ms. Bono
described it, is offered in 9-oz clamshell containers in
powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar or cookies-and-cream
varieties of the chips, as well as a chip-and-dip platter
packaged in a 20-serving tray that comes with powdered sugar chips with the traditional ricotta filling as
the "dip." Chip packages have a suggested retail price of
$3.99, and the platter retails for $14.99.
The product launch quickly required expansion,
moving the company to a 30,000-sq-ft facility from its
original digs of 13,000 sq ft. The new plant includes a
dedicated line for chip production - it didn't take long
to scrap the idea of simply using broken shells for the
chips. "We have strict standards on the production floor;
if there are more than a couple broken shells, we have a
big problem," Ms. Bono said. "So, rather than promoting breakage, we were more efficient in our production
overall. I mean, why fold the shells if you're just going to
break them?"
The growth isn't over for this product. As sales continue to grow throughout the US, the company's R&D
is focusing on regional flavors and possible savory
combinations. And while international sales pick up in
Canada and Mexico, Ms. Bono's dream is to bring it all
full-circle. "My ultimate goal is to export back to Italy.
That would be the best, to sell our product back where it
all began," she said.
- Joanie Spencer

http://www.bakingandsnack.com

Baking & Snack - September 2014

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