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Melt with Lol’s goodies
It is quiet in the little garden full of flowers in d’Epinay. At the very end, stands a small house where no one would think such delicious yummies are being carefully prepared. Yet, Lorraine and her helper spend their time cooking these “toffees” (fudges), which have the taste of childhood, in their purple and white kitchen. Welcome to Lol’s Goodies, Lorraine Descrozilles’ sanctuary…
Lol’s Goodies may be a business but the environment and the coolness of the chef give the small enterprise another meaning. It seems as if you were at home! Of course, this is due to the quiet environment but it is mainly because the business is about “home-made little cakes”! Lorraine confides that many customers tell her: “It reminds me of the fudges my grandmother used to do when I was a child”, when they first taste the products.
Lorraine has precisely kept her own grandma’s recipe to make her little toffees. “But I had to adapt them to 2005… Some materials can’t be found anymore.” The only secret she accepts to reveal is that they are egg-free… perfect for everyone!
In fact, she never imagined she would become a fudge specialist. Of course, she made such cakes for friends and relatives who enjoyed them. But she never thought of setting up a business. “Then, I had my first child and I wanted to have a lot of time for him while keeping an activity… And my friends kept on saying that my fudges were excellent.” That’s how the idea started to grow up in her mind three years ago. “Again, at that time, I made some at home and had them sold in a certain number of shops and supermarkets near my house in the North.”
The response was so good and she enjoyed so much her business that she had to move. “After I took part in the Salon de La Maison and then in the Salon des Produits mauriciens, the sales were really boosted and I could no longer make the cakes at home.” This is when she moved to the little “outhouse” in her father’s garden. “I really like it. I can work at my own pace and manage to have much time with my child.”
Perfect presents</B>
The quietness of the place must help her find the inspiration. Not only does she propose different fudge flavours – chocolate, coffee, almond, raisin, dark chocolate and tangerine – but she also tries to innovate with the package and decoration.
What she wants, above all, is to personalise her toffees. “I don’t want my fudge to be like any other chocolate or sweet that anyone could buy in the corner shop. This is why I do everything to adapt the product to the needs of the customer.”
Lorraine has designed different types of packaging, depending on the sale outlet. For example, the fudge is in small plastic bags for supermarkets as Super U, Chez Popo in Trou-aux-Biches, Store 2000… At the craft market in Caudan Waterfront, she sells the orange “Boîte Plaisir” (pleasure box) which contains up to 16 toffees. The boxes are perfect for little presents and tourists can take them home in their bags.
She has also started to sell her delicacies in clubs, such as the Riverland in Tamarin or the Grand-Bay yacht club. There also, the presentation is different as customers just help themselves from big jars… Just as at “Hand Made Mauritius”, the little handicraft shop at Super U Grand-Bay.
But the chef did not stop there. Her favourites seem to be the cakes she makes for birthdays, weddings, dinners… “I make an incursion into your world, your colours, your environment… your whole culture and I adapt to your desires.” As she shows some of the packages she has made for different occasions, she laughs seeing her first one. “Look at this; it is so big… I didn’t have much experience at the time!”
Today, she has definitely won in terms of experience. All packages are as different as nice. She has made “mini-bites”, which restaurants serve with coffee at the end of a meal. She is already thinking about the package she will use for the end-of-year period… And a brand new cake she doesn’t want to unveil for the moment. But she promises that the concept will not change: homemade cakes melting in the mouth…
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