Raymer's Makes Success in Small Batches

Mark and Sue Raymer opened Raymer’s Homemade Candies in Doylestown 11 years ago.

“Opening the doors made no sense at all,” Mark said.

They had move to the area from Wisconsin following their daughter (and grandchildren) who had moved to Chalfont for work.

Sue had worked as a court reporter and Mark in the corporate world, though they had run candy stores in Wisconsin as well. With some reservations that Doylestown could sustain a candy store like theirs, they opened shop anyway, and it was all up hill from there.

“Our business improves every year,” Mark said. “The more we got known in the community, the more people would bring in their friends. It’s all been natural growth.”

You could literally say Raymer’s success came by word of mouth.

“The candy has to speak for itself,” he said. “We only use Belgian chocolate and a recipe that goes 100 years.”

Raymer’s caramels have actually become a town favorite. So much so, Raymer’s email address is caramels@raymershomemadecandies.com.

“The Mediterranean sea salt and caramel and the naked caramel are our biggest deal,” Mark said.

The secret to that caramel, he confessed, is small batches. He could get a bigger pot to make a bigger batch, but the flavor wouldn’t be the same.

“If we become world famous for our caramels, I’d have to get a lot more stoves because I will only make the caramell in small batches.”

During the run-up to Easter, Raymer’s stayed open a couple hours later during the week than usual to fit all the customers in. But each morning at 7 a.m., it’s back into the kitchen to melt that chocolate and start all over again.