Lydia Blanchard ’06 had always been really interested in baking, and she’d always wanted to open her own place. “I wanted to have something, whether it was a bakery or restaurant or just a coffee shop,” she said. What she hadn’t expected was that she would find so much success with marshmallows. Lydia’s Sweets, Blanchard’s s’mores distribution business, is on the verge of taking off.  Blanchard made its presence felt at the Wesleyan farmer’s market in Beckham Hall last Wednesday.  Blanchard sat down with The Argus to talk about her business and why everyone seems to love marshmallows when they’re covered in chocolate.
 
Argus: How did Sweet Lydia’s get started?
Lydia Blanchard: Well, I’d always been really interested in cooking and I really enjoyed cooking and baking and eating well. When I left school I worked in various non-profits, like after school program and transitional shelters for teens. The whole time I was baking stuff for my sister [Cordelia Blanchard ’12] at college, and the rest of my family and friends. I always, even at school, had the idea of opening my own place. I stumbled across the possibility of baking marshmallows, and when I made them the first time they were just spectacular. I experimented with different flavors, and hit upon a winning formula: sandwich the marshmallow in graham crackers and cover the whole thing in chocolate. They were delicious, so I sent them off and shared them with people in the area. I was unsatisfied with my current job and looking for something different, and this was perfect. It took me about five months to get off the ground and start to get feedback, but I did end up getting my name out there.
 
A: How did you come to specialize in s’mores?
LB: I started with baking marshmallows, and the s’mores sort of branched out from that. I started poking around on the web and found different retailers of gourmet marshmallows in different flavors. None of them were doing what I was doing, though. At first, I got great reviews of the peanut butter s’mores, which are packaged individually and last a bit longer than marshmallows do. I started to focus more on the s’mores, though that’s not to say other varieties of marshmallows have taken a back seat. It’s just that money speaks, and more people buy the s’mores than the marshmallows.
 
A: What’s your favorite variety of s’more?
LB: My favorite type is the peppermint chip s’more, which is peppermint marshmallows on chocolate graham crackers covered with white chocolate, and mint chocolate chunks on top.
 
A: When did you decide to come back to Wesleyan to sell your stuff?
LB: Right now, I rent a kitchen space from another local cafe. I don’t have a physical retail store, and instead I sell at the counter of a local cafe and a couple of other places. Last spring my sister suggested the farmer’s markets at Wes, but I found out too late to get in that year. I wasn’t yet established as a proper business, and I lacked the proper health department inspections, because I don’t have a physical store. So I worked more on advertising and PR, selling my stuff at crafts fairs and farmer’s markets, and I made it back to Wes this year. It’s perfect, because what college student doesn’t want a delicious small package of sweetness? My sister has been a huge help at getting the word out, and she helps with manning the table during the rush around 12:20 to 1:15. It’s great to go back and see students and the dynamic energy of the campus.
 
A: What’s next for the bakery?
LB: I feel I’ve been really successful as far as having a passion and laying the groundwork for it and doing something I love for my job. Right now, my goal is to get through the holidays, and just keep trying to get the word out as far as what the business is and what I offer. At some point I want to have a bigger base. Not necessarily a retail space, but my own kitchen not based around the hours of another cafe. Things are looking up, and my next big step is simply evaluating where I stand and hopefully getting my own space some time soon.