Today we’d like to introduce you to Noelle and Amy Ramirez.
Hi Noelle and Amy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
S’moreology was brought to life in 2018 when we decided to introduce gourmet, hand-crafted s’mores to the world. We had a dream of bringing people together to reminisce while sharing delicious sweet desserts. Our journey over the years hasn’t always been easy, but we’re thrilled to be able to serve customers near and far who love to enjoy our s’mores and share them with loved ones.
We began as a local pop-up vendor, offering s’mores for attendees of outdoor events like Smorgasburg and Rooftop Cinemas in DTLA. We started our business with a wood s’more bar we built ourselves, some ingredients, and a whole lot of faith. We had a limited budget, therefore every purchase and move we made had to be very thought out. Eventually, we attained all the equipment, supplies, and ingredients needed to take on multiple catering events weekly and sometimes multiple events daily. We grew quickly and hired a team of nine people to keep up with demand. In 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to rethink and redesign our entire business model. We had to make big changes very quickly. The changes we made allowed us to navigate our business through the pandemic and eventually helped paved the way to our first brick-and-mortar location.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For most business owners, their path to success is full of roadblocks and obstacles they could never have predicted, and we’re no exception.
When we first created S’moreology, we worked out of our home kitchen, which – as anybody could imagine – was extremely challenging. Next, we moved into a commissary kitchen, sharing a space with other foodie entrepreneurs. Working in a commissary kitchen provided us with access to commercial grade equipment and gave us room to increase our graham cracker and marshmallow production. However, it soon became too crowded with other ambitious entrepreneurs and costly. We knew we had to search for a kitchen space of our own. It was difficult to face the fact that as our business grew, so did our challenges. We were celebrating big wins while simultaneously facing new roadblocks to overcome.
Getting our sweet treats in front of the right crowd was another challenge that took patience and numerous adjustments. We were lucky enough to participate in outdoor events like Smorgasburg, which allowed us to test our product in front of thousands of hungry locals and tourists every weekend. We spent countless hours adjusting our menu until we were able to completely satisfy our customers’ cravings. Our S’mores Flight is an example of a dessert that was developed for our customers who requested smaller sample size smores they could easily share with friends. Our S’mores Flight was an instant hit at Smorgasburg and won over our target audience. In light of our S’mores Flight success, we look back on the road that brought us there, which was full of late-night adjustments and strategizing to overcome our next obstacle.
As nearly all business owners will tell you, navigating a global pandemic significantly impacted the way we operated. Our business model was flipped on its head, once revolving around a shareable dessert enjoyed in a crowd, we had to find a way to enable our loyal customers to safely enjoy our sweet treats. When all of our upcoming events were canceled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we went back to the drawing board to figure out how to keep our business alive and keep customers satisfied. It was then that we created our at-home S’mores Kits, making it easy for families and loved ones to share a bit of joy during an otherwise difficult time.
We’re proud to say that we continue to sell our S’more Kits today. Customers can order different flavor s’more kits from our website or purchase them directly from our West Covina S’more Shop while picking up a few sweet treats for themselves. Our S’more kits are great gifts for family, friends, or corporate gifting. We have also officially begun offering event services again, including catering for weddings and corporate events of all sizes. Our team is fully vaccinated and we follow COVID health and safety procedures. Our vision for S’moreology is to be able to fill more lives with delicious joy and nostalgia, and we’re thrilled to be able to work towards that every day.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about S’moreology?
S’moreology was created with the intent of bringing a fun childhood memory back to life, but with a twist. Using wholesome, hand-crafted ingredients, we were putting an invigorating spin on a much-loved classic treat. Since we opened our very first brick and mortar location in West Covina, we’ve expanded our product line to include ice cream, brownies, cookies, and more, all made with love and the highest quality ingredients.
Believe it or not, our West Covina location was once a cell phone repair shop. Now, customers can peer through the windows to see our bakers rolling dough or whipping marshmallows. We don’t just sell s’mores…we create nostalgic experiences that enable customers to make memories with loved ones. Our s’mores bring people together, and that’s what it’s all about.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
We are so grateful to our loyal customers who have been with us on this incredible journey. They show us so much love and support at our shop and at events. They continue to recommend us to their friends, family, and co-workers and have kept our business alive and thriving even through the most difficult times.
We are also grateful to the incredible people who make up our S’moreology team. Every person on our team is so talented, creative, and passionate about their work. We couldn’t accomplish everything we do without our awesome team working alongside with us.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.smoreology.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smoreology
Image Credits:
Joanne Leung Photography
