The Carmolli family have experienced the sweet taste of success for four decades making fudge and taffy. Dave and Pat Carmolli began Downeast Candies in 1974 almost as an afterthought.

Neither Dave or Pat Carmolli had any experience in the candy-making business or access to a delicious secret family fudge recipe. But the two had a friend who was looking out for their best interests.

Dave Carmolli had recently lost his job as a northeast yacht dealer’s manufacturing representative. The business was sold. The board president and several other employees, including Carmolli, were not retained.

While Dave Carmolli was between jobs, the couple vacationed in Florida. The Carmollis stayed with a friend from Massachusetts. Dave Carmolli had a conversation about his future during a boat trip with his pal.

“He told me I couldn’t go on like this forever. And I told him I knew that better than anybody else,” Dave Carmolli said. “That’s when he suggested candy making, and I told him I didn’t know anything about it.”

But his friend, Ray Hebert, did. Hebert owned the Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury, Mass. When they all headed north, the Carmollis visited Hebert in Massachusetts. While Dave Carmolli dismissed the notion of candy making, Hebert believed his friend had a potential career awaiting him.

“He woke me up at 6 a.m. and said it’s time to go work. I thought he was nuts. I don’t have a job. Why should I go to work?” said David Carmolli. “But I did it, and by 11 a.m. I’d made 600 pounds of fudge.”

When the couple left, Hebert made sure they had the recipe. But Dave and Pat still weren’t contemplating a career as fudge makers. Once they returned to Boothbay Harbor, they had no other job prospects so they entered the candy-making  business.

“One day we decided to try it. And it didn’t take long before we found success” said Pat Carmolli.

The Carmollis began candy making in a small cottage near Townsend Gut in Southport. They purchased a kettle, platform scale and other utensils for making fudge.

“It was a room slightly larger than a one car garage. We had to tilt the kettle to bring it through the door,” said Dave Carmolli.

They began packing the fudge in half pound bags and selling it to local shops. It seemed Herbert’s recipe was a hit with local merchants. This allowed the fledgling business to expand the next year. Downeast Candies relocated to its current location at 7 By-Way.

Downeast Candies began selling taffy in its second year. The Carmollis turned to Hebert for his taffy recipe. Dave Carmolli said his friend’s advice was instrumental in the business’s success. At the business’s height, it produced 2,000 pounds of candies per day.

“If I had the wherewithal to buy him a gold-plated Cadillac, I would’ve done that,” he said.

The business added a local ice cream shop and several candy shops around Maine. But they have scaled back over the years. The operation is now confined to the Boothbay Harbor location.

Dave Carmolli, 78, credits Pat’s father, William Moses, as being another major contributor in the business’s success.

“This is really a fourth generation business. Pat’s father did just about everything for us. Any time a project came up, he took care of it,” Dave Carmolli said.

In 1995, Pat Carmolli bought Dave’s share of the business. Downeast Candies is now operated by her and son, Rick Carmolli. Pat Carmoli, 77, takes care of the business’ administrative end and Rick Carmolli, 48, is the chief candy maker. Rick Carmolli is in his 35th year in the business. 

When Rick Carmolli became an adult, he decided to continue in the family business.

“I saw it as an opportunity to be self employed and continue to live in the area,” said Rick Carmolli.

He is also passing his knowledge to the next generation of candy makers. His son, Ethan, 13, began working in the shop last year. And this year, his daughter, Ava, started learning the business. Ethan Carmolli worked the buckets last year. His duties was monitoring the automated taffy wrapper. He watched made sure the144 pieces per minute being shot out the automated machine were wrapped.

This year his duties include working in the kitchen. He weighs the fudge and taffy, and measures all the cream, butter and other ingredients used. Ethan Carmolli wants to learn more about the business before making it a career.

“This is my second year, so I want to learn more about it before deciding,” he said.

The Carmolli kids are two of a dozen employees. Downeast Candies begins production each May and ends in October. The business’s success is attributed to using high quality ingredients. The Carmollis use butter, heavy whipping cream and pure chocolate.

”We had a local dairy farmer tell us once we used the most heavy cream in the state,” Dave Carmolli said. “Our use of quality ingredients is the reason for our success. Salesmen try to tell us we can save a few cents by using this or that, but we tell them we’re not interested.”

It seems the family’s commitment to quality candy making brings customers from all over the country to Boothbay Harbor each year. Cindy Hahn, of Lima, Ohio, wrote a review on the Downeast Candies’ Facebook page.

“The best taffy I’ve ever had. And I always take some home for the myself and the grandkids,” she wrote. “It has great texture and flavor. And is always smooth and fresh. Shopping at Downeast Candies is the highlight of my trip to Maine.”

Rick and Pat Carmolli don’t forsee any major changes in the coming years. They want to become more competitive in the wholesale and Internet sales markets. Rick Carmolli said the business really “boomed” in the 1980s. But as more competition entered the market, Downeast Candies needs to pursue other avenues for marketing its product.