THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 26, 1995 TAG: 9506240264
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, BUSINESS WEEKLY
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
It sounds like an entrepreneur's fondest dream: move to a Caribbean island and make a living doing something you really like, all the while enjoying the lush tropics.
For Vicki Phelps and her family, the dream came true.
The Virginia Beach woman turned her lifelong passion for baking into a business that makes gourmet cookies in the Caribbean for export.
How she did it reflects the fine entrepreneurial art of recognizing a niche before everyone else stampedes the market.
It began when Phelps, 37, a former buyer for Leggett Department Stores, stirred tropical fruits, nuts and spices into her traditional American cookie batter.
In less than a year, Phelps' brainchild burgeoned into Caribbean Cookie Co., a business with 12 full-time employees producing nearly 1,200 dozen cookies a day on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands about 1,200 miles southeast of Miami.
The idea dawned on the mother of one after repeated vacations on St. Thomas. Having little to chose from in the way of presents to bring back to friends in the states, Phelps resorted to traditional tourist fare.
``I always took stuff back, but I got tired of T-Shirts and liquor,'' she remembered, though what impressed her were the island flavors.
``There were just so many wonderful ingredients, so many distinctive flavors - passion fruit, ginger and allspice from Barbados - and I didn't see anyone using them,'' said Phelps.
Last August, after six months of intense market research, the Phelpses plunged in. While they still keep an apartment in Virginia Beach, she and her husband, Charles `Chet' Phelps, moved to St. Thomas and opened a 3,000-square-foot bakery. ``It's just taken off,'' she said.
Buyers include Taste Unlimited, Disney World and, possibly soon, Neiman Marcus. Customers are as far away as Japan and England.
She predicts greater worldwide sales, though Chet, who heads sales, sounds cautious. Trends in foods can be like crowds in new restaurant. They tend to fade after a few seasons.
``It's growing very fast, but I don't know how enduring it's going to be once the honeymoon is over,'' he said.
No one, though, has called off expansion plans. Within the next 12 months, Chet said, the company will open a Florida distribution center from which the decorator tins of cookies will be shipped throughout the United States.
Plans are afoot for a third plant expansion. It would increase the St. Thomas factory plant to 20,000 square feet from 5,000 square feet.
Although Vicki figures Caribbean Cookie could pay lower wages in the states - workers commonly earn as much as $8 per hour on St. Thomas - the Phelpses have no thoughts about moving the business.
Relocating to the states would diminish the product's authenticity, she said. What's more, the Phelpses assured the government of St. Thomas they would provide health and pension benefits for the new employees under a business incentive program. In return, the government provided tax breaks on 90 percent of sales for 10 years.
Chet and Vicki credit research, sound business judgement, enough capital and baking expertise with the business' success.
A ``substantial investment'' was required to get the cookie factory up and running, said Chet - something the family had.
Vicki had experience in food and retail businesses that served her well in the new venture. She grew up in her parents' Lynchburg restaurant and later worked as an apparel buyer for the Leggett chain.
He grew up in a family that operated a wholesale peanut business in Winston-Salem, N.C. After flying F-14s in the Navy, he opened Imagination Systems in Virginia Beach, a computer business that was sold in 1991.
Then he founded Computer Solutions, which was sold in January so he could devote more time to Caribbean Cookie. He works as the troubleshooter and chief salesman.
``We were just looking for a new venture,'' he said. That was when the light bulb went on in Vicki's head.
``Anybody loves a good cookie in any part of the world,'' she said. ``People just don't have time to bake anymore.''
Before opening the plant, the couple investigated the market with a study that took six months.
In the library, they checked on the number of cruise ships operating in the islands. They assured themselves enough tourists and gift shops were on St. Thomas.
They also noticed Americans increasingly favored gourmet cookies, a trend that nicely coincided with increased attention in the United States on Caribbean culture and foods. With store shelves bearing sweet drinks with names such as Passion Fruit, it was clear there was a niche.
``It took a lot of planning,'' said Vicki. ``We had to research to see if there was a market for gourmet cookies. We definitely did our homework.''
The factory, containing state-of-the-art equipment, combines hand and machine work and makes use of high-quality packaging material for the cookies.
``It's the packaging that makes it possible'' to keep the cookies as fresh as when they first came out of the oven, Chet said.
Vicki said the image of the product can't be underestimated. ``We took the colors of the island - the turquoise of the sea and sky, the green of the trees and the red of the flowers - and produced a package that's inviting - that said `Caribbean,' '' said Vicki.
She went on an unequaled baking binge, stirring in different ingredients, poking around island kitchens to discover what fruits, nuts and spices taste best together.
``Growing up in the restaurant, I was always bothering the cooks and chefs,'' she said. ``They adopted me, taught me how to make cobblers, cakes, pies. They all had their own ideas, secrets.''
Getting the combinations right at first was a feat, Vicki said, but now she has her own in-house taster - 8-year-old son Chase.
Before production on a new cookie begins, it must pass Chase's taste bud test. If he turns it down, well, back to the ovens.
``If a child won't eat it, there's a problem,'' said Vicki, explaining she recently rejected a ginger cookie after Chase gave it a thumbs down.
``The fresh ginger is so strong, you know,'' she said. ``So I let my friends taste it. It was a sophisticated flavor, and the parents loved it, but the kids didn't.
``You have to find out what works well with what,'' she said. ``I mean, lemon and coconut are a wonderful combination, and when you use a soft fruit like the mango, you need nuts, so I use macadamias.''
Pirate's Pleasure - one of the four varieties of cookie the company produces - is full of white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and mango.
Tropical Treasure is a combination of pineapple, banana, coconut, chocolate chips, rum and cashews.
Every batch of cookies must pass muster with the chief cook. Said Vicki: ``I don't actually bake them myself anymore, but I still have to sample, you know.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Vicki Phelps
Color photos by Charlie Meads, Staff
Colorful, airtight packaging keeps the tropical cookies as fresh as
when they first came out of the oven.
Vicki Phelps
Caribbean Cookie Co. color photos
Caribbean Cookie Co. has 12 full-time employees...
Buyers of the Caribbean treats include Taste Unlimited, Disney World
and, possibly soon, Neiman Marcus.
by CNB