Love it. I’ve been here since last September and have been coming twice a week. I use the club to meet people, work, have lunch. I love the food and meting people. It’s a really effective way of networking.’

Tasty Mates Gourmet Gummy Sweets – Tasty Mates

The start-up nature of Tasty Mates means the team are constantly thinking of new ideas to keep a competitive edge. We saw this when we took part in their business meetings, helping them to develop new initiative projects and strategic planning. The actual process requires several stages — and some patience. After boiling up the water and adding sugar, glucose syrup and pectin (used instead of gelatine) the flavour, colour and citric acid is added. This is poured into moulds, left to cool then the little sugary people are popped out, drenched in snow sugar (a non--melting icing sugar) to form their shell, then left to chill in in a temperature-controlled environment for ten days which gives them the right texture and finish. Pear Crumble: Glucose syrup, Sugar, Water, Fruit pulp (10%), (apple, antioxidant: ascorbic acid, acidifier: citric acid), Gelling agent (pectin), Glazing agent (vegetable oil: coconut and carnauba wax), Natural flavours and Natural colouring (clorophiline) Peaches & Cream: Glucose syrup, Sugar, Water, Fruit pulp (10%), (apple, antioxidant: ascorbic acid, acidifier: citric acid), Gelling agent (pectin), Glazing agent (vegetable oil: coconut and carnauba wax), Natural flavours and Natural colouring (betacarotene)Now Tasty Mates are made in a factory,’ (Phew!), ‘where we can produce our candy efficiently and fulfil our bigger clients. For example, next month we’ll launch in a major department across America, Canada and Australia, an airline, and more.’ Big time. There’s nothing better than having a co-founder with whom to share both miseries and joys. If not a co-founder, it would be good to at least have a mentor or someone to go through that emotional journey with you.’ says Joe. Joe’s journey hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns (mind the pun). Read on to delve into Joe’s journey of overcoming challenges and emerging wiser, his insights on effective networking and his experience as a member of Home Grown. Secondly, charitable Initiatives. Across the world, people are suffering and we at Tasty Mates are dedicated to helping our ‘Mates In Need’. We promise to donate a percentage of profits to our charitable programme that provides support to those in need. At present, we donate a percentage of our profits to Mind and Crisis, two charities that do huge amounts of good and help thousands of people across the UK. Mind was founded in 1946 in England and Wales; with the aim of providing support to both the government, and directly to those living with mental health conditions. They provide a 24-hour helpline and publish research and campaigns that raise awareness of mental health problems and the vast amount of people living with them. Crisis is also an incredible charity that was founded in 1967 and offers year-round housing, education, and well-being services across the UK. They also focus on long-term solutions such as ending homelessness altogether by enabling people to access support early on so that homelessness can be prevented. The sweet-toothed, thirty-something entrepreneurs felt there was room in the gourmet sweet sector for their jelly baby-style confection — Tasty Mates. “Gourmet sweets are a relatively new emerging market that didn’t exist until Candy Kittens launched about eight years ago. Before that you could only really buy own-brand versions from Selfridges or Harrods. There are only two or three other players.”

Mixed Mates – Tasty Mates Mixed Mates – Tasty Mates

Woolf and Sunshine are currently working on a gifting range with some other exciting plans in the pipeline. “We want to have flavours representing everyone’s personality traits eventually and build a brand that the whole country can access in every shop they go into.” They will just need to make sure all the samples are left with Sunshine. “If they were left at my place they would all be eaten!” jokes Woolf. In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people. We’re sadly coming to the close of our interview, but before we break off, we want to know about Joe’s biggest achievements. The pair spent evenings and weekends writing business plans, surrounded by vats of boiling sugar. “We were working on the marketing while practising making sweets in our kitchens for the best part of a year. It’s not easy — the sugar fizzes up at the end. I have scars all over my arms” admits Woolf.Berry: With age comes maturity… but not for this one! Whether it’s the one liners or the terrible dad jokes, The Berry Funny One will always put a smile on everyone’s face. Did you know: laughing relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for 45 minutes after…A great Tasty Mate to have!

Contact – Tasty Mates Contact – Tasty Mates

Unlike other Jewish media, we do not charge for content. That won’t change. Because we are free, we rely on advertising to cover our costs. This vital lifeline, which has dropped in recent years, has fallen further due to coronavirus. It is impossible to cross Home Grown without making connections, and we ask Joe if he has made many. Pear– Whether they’re taking a stroll in the park, enjoying a night in or jetting off for a holiday romance, the Perfect Pear are simply #couplegoals…and while their PDA often causes a stir, we know you secretly want to be them! After investing as much money as they could, Woolf and Sunshine realised they would need more resources, so did a Dragon’s Den style pitch to their parents whose investment enabled them to send samples to potential investors. As Marketeers ourselves, we cannot help but ask about one effective marketing technique Joe has used for Tasty Mates.At a startup, the staff are constantly on their feet while solving problems and simultaneously moving from task to task - there’s always something to do. We have had the pleasure of taking part in all aspects of the business, always on the go. The market is massive and the environmental side of the business with vegan products being better for the environment, was really important to us,” says Woolf.