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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

OMG! Candy kings back at it

Clodhopper creators launching new product

By: Geoff Kirbyson

Posted: 02/8/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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supplied photo Chris Emery (left) and Larry Finnson have a new treat they hope will be big.

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OMG's candy - Milk. Chris Emery (L) and Larry Finnson. February 07 2012. Supplied photo.

Oh my God, the Clodhopper boys are back.

Chris Emery and Larry Finnson, who created a candy empire in Winnipeg from an old family recipe before selling it six years ago, are getting back to what they know best.

The former heads of Krave's Candy are about to launch a new company and a new confectionary concoction called OMG's -- milk- and dark-chocolate graham clusters mixed with diced almonds and crunchy toffee bits.

"Every bite will leave you saying, 'Oh my God,' " Emery said.

In the mid-'90s, the pair took a favourite recipe belonging to Emery's grandmother and turned it into Clodhoppers, which were manufactured in Winnipeg and sold across Canada in stores such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Safeway and on both sides of the border with Walmart.

This time around, the put on their chef's aprons and did some old-fashioned candy experimentation at Emery's condo in Vancouver. They tried various ingredients, including pecans and peanuts, and kept going until they felt they hit a home run.

The product name is derived from the reaction most people had when they tried the candy. They didn't really give it any serious consideration at first because they thought in this age of texting, OMG would have been patented long ago.

"We couldn't believe it was available. How many people text that in a day?" said Finnson, noting the pair has also copyrighted "LOL" if they choose to launch another candy recipe.

OMG's will be launched across Canada in the first week of March in Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws stores. They will come packaged in a 135-gram bag and sell for $3.99.

The pair admit there are some similarities between Clodhoppers and OMG's - both have a chocolate and graham cluster base -- but the taste profiles are "worlds apart."

"When you put an OMG in your mouth, it doesn't taste anything like a Clodhopper," Finnson said.

The pair want to compete in what they say is the fastest-growing segment in the candy sector -- premium chocolate and gourmet products.

Their 7,000-square-foot Border Street plant will employ 10 people to start on a single shift.

At one point, their old Clodhoppers plant was producing up to 1,133 kilograms per hour and selling millions of dollars worth of candy across North America per year.

In 2006, the pair sold the company to B.C.-based Brookside Foods and they've been waiting to get back in the game ever since. (Two months ago, chocolate giant The Hershey Company bought Brookside.) Emery worked for Brookside for three years, moved to Vancouver two years ago and started developing OMG's shortly after. Finnson worked in the water business and then did some marketing consulting work for a few Winnipeg companies before hooking up with Emery again once their non-compete clauses with Clodhoppers were up.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 8, 2012 A2

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