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For Christmas each year, I would give Beth’s famous toffee as gifts. With rave reviews from friends and family, and with Beth’s blessing, I decided to start a toffee company! My humble beginnings were in my tiny Los Angeles apartment kitchen where I experimented and sampled lots of ideas. I persuaded my boss at the time, store owner Pamela Galloway of Ferret in Studio City, CA, to carry the toffee in her antiques and home store. Much to my surprise, the toffee flew off of the shelves.
The toffee was merely a holiday idea until my friends Steve and Allison put $20 bills on a dinner table and said, “Send my mother some toffee for Mother’s Day.” I immediately set about the business of starting a business. With my theatre degree, this was a challenge, so I called upon the help of my very successful business owner mother, Ellen. She is my best friend and business partner in what soon would become Lula Belle.
In honor of my roots in Tennessee and Georgia, I started calling Lula Belle, “Southern Toffee.” Unlike traditional English toffee made with almonds, Lula Belle’s meaty pecans add just a touch of Southern heaven to the sweetness of the rich butter toffee. I debuted the toffee line with Beth’s original, dark chocolate flavor. I soon expanded the line to include milk chocolate and white chocolate flavors. The three flavors seem to have a broad appeal with everyone choosing a different favorite. Assorted tins with a taste of each flavor are now the most popular sellers however white chocolate has become a wedding and shower favorite. In November and December, we feature our holiday flavor, Peppermint toffee.
Despite our exciting growth, the toffee is still handmade to order in small batches with no preservatives. We pride ourselves on the personal attention paid to each and every batch as well as the beauty of each hand wrapped package.
My heartfelt thanks go to Beth, my mom, and all of my friends and family who have helped to make this little toffee company a reality.
Thank you for your interest and, now, I invite you to guiltlessly indulge!
Amy Landers
Owner
P.S. Lula Belle is my childhood nickname started by my dear Uncle Cameron!
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My lifelong friend, and college roommate, Beth, is responsible for this whole story. Beth and her family used to make a delicious toffee for us at the holidays every year. I became addicted to the stuff! After asking Beth for her recipe, I, too, began to make it for friends and family at the holidays.
