Spicy Tamalitoz explodes onto the U.S. candy scene
The company was founded by a Mexican and British couple.
Tamalitoz, a Mexican candy brand, has been rapidly expanding to the U.S. The brand started at Sugarox Candy Studio, a modest candy store in Mexico City, making small-batch hard candy, and is owned and operated by husband and husband team Jack Bessudo and Declan Simmons.
Bessudo, being of Mexican heritage, wanted to create a line of candy inspired by Mexican candy, known for its sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors. Simmons, whom is British, wanted something similar to traditional candy or sweets.
Tamalitoz, which include chili on the inside, fulfilled this niche—consumers reportedly get the sweet, fruity flavor of the candy first, and then as they continue to enjoy the candy, hints of sour heat come through.
"Everything was done using old-school candy methods and in small batches. We would make two types of candy in the shop; one was hand cut pieces of rock candy, little candy pieces with figures on them, like strawberries, lemons, limes, watermelons. Rock candy is what they call this type of candy in the UK and in Australia, and that is actually where the name Sugarox came from," explains Bessudo.
"The other type of candy was made in a similar manner, but instead of hand cutting the candy, we would feed it into a pillow forming machine and it would make little pillow-shaped candies. The most popular flavors were Watermelon, Tamarind, Chamoy, and Cucumber," he adds.
As the brand grew and then expanded Sugarox, Bessudo and his husband decided to continue making their bestsellers, the candy pillows.
"I wanted to create a cool, high end looking brand that was still unapologetically Mexican. We worked for days trying to come up with a name for the brand, and then one day, when we were making a batch of these candies in the shop, a customer who observed the process from beginning to end told us that the candies looked like "Tamalitos," or tiny tamales. I had never thought of it, but once she mentioned it, I could not help but seeing them like tiny tamales. That's when Declan suggested that be the name of the new brand," Bessudo reveals.
Origins
When Sugarox opened, it was a candy boutique, and at one point there were close to 15 Sugarox Candy Studio locations in Mexico.
"When Tamalitoz came on board, we decided that we would open Sugarox Candy Studio LLC in the U.S. as a distribution arm of our production in Mexico. As we started to grow, we realized that production capacity was going to be an issue. We tried to open a production site dedicated exclusively to make Tamalitoz, but even then we could not keep up with production," says Bessudo.
The brand was at a "strange middle point," Bessudo describes—they had outgrown their production, but couldn't afford a minimum run required by a co-packer. The brand got lucky and found a co-packer that was willing to invest time in them. However, once COVID hit, the brand was forced to close its stores in Mexico.
"We thought it would be a temporary situation, but after having everyone on payroll for almost a year, we had to make the very difficult decision to permanently close the shops. The irony being that Tamalitoz was only available at the Sugarox shops, so once they closed, it was the end of Tamalitoz in Mexico. We still get messages from customers in Mexico asking when they will be able to buy Tamalitoz in Mexico again. The good news is we are working on this, and hopefully will make Tamalitoz to our paisanos Mexicanos early next year," he explains.
Innovation
In late 2022, the brand debuted ChewLows, a low-sugar version of Tamalitoz. "We were speaking with our co-packer, and she mentioned that they were developing a low-sugar chew in-house for one of their brands. One day, [we] sat with her, brainstorming different ideas for a name and she said Low Chews, and I said no, and then she said ChewLows, and that was it," Bessudo says, noting the humorous coincidence that "chulo" in Spanish means "good-looking guy."
"We are proud of the fact that Tamalitoz is one of the only brands of Mexican-inspired candy that takes care in not including any artificial flavors or artificial food dyes in any of our products," he adds.
The brand is constantly innovating, and late 2024 into early 2025 is no exception.
"We are always working on something new. The most recent launch is going to be the new family-size pouch of the Chili Pops, and the newest flavor of our popcorn, Churros and Chocolate Caliente, a churro- and Mexican hot chocolate-flavored popcorn. It is the first time we are expanding outside of the traditional fruit and chili flavor profile, but still very much on brand capturing the essence of this Mexican indulgence," Bessudo finishes.
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