Local couple turns holiday treats into year-round business

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 3/29/18

A recent evening at Hope & Main , Warren's food business incubator, found Gina Ferrara and George Lefebvre of Bristol powering through a lot of chocolate. None of it for themselves, of course. …

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Local couple turns holiday treats into year-round business

Posted

A recent evening at Hope & Main, Warren's food business incubator, found Gina Ferrara and George Lefebvre of Bristol powering through a lot of chocolate.

None of it for themselves, of course. Gina is a communication management consultant and fitness instructor, George has served as a patrolman with the Bristol Police Department for more than 15 years, and both seem unlikely to end up losing a battle of wills with a pound of chocolate. But ironically, the gym is exactly where their company, G&G's Pretzels, was born.

Gina used to make homemade granola for students in her spin classes every Christmas. The granola was always very well-received, but the addition one year of chocolate-covered pretzels really raised the bar. "Everyone loved them," said George.

Not long after, Gina and George were watching an episode of Shark Tank, the television series where would-be entrepreneurs pitch a product idea to a group of investors (sharks.) The episode featured a woman who had left a corporate job to produce pretzels very similar to the ones Gina was giving away as gifts. She revealed that she had a $2 million order from a national food wholesaler. The sharks bit — and Gina and George were intrigued.

"A friend suggested we check out Hope & Main," said George. They started in May, 2017 with Hope & Main's boot camp. "The program here is incredible. Everyone has a specialty, from marketing, to social media. They have just been wonderful."

The start-up sequence for G&G's Pretzels was fast, from food safety coursework to requisite paperwork, it was just a few short months. "We were at our first farmers market in October," said Gina.

G&G's Pretzels can be found at a few retail markets, including Avenue N in Rumford, Dahlia Living in South Dartmouth, and Stock Culinary Goods in Providence. Specialty orders for happenings from birthday parties to baby showers to corporate events make up a significant and growing part of their business. They also enjoy working special events, like the recent Taste of the East Bay. "It was a blast, and we got lots of positive feedback," said George. They also recently provided platter of product for the Bodacious Bee, the Bristol Warren Education Foundation's signature fundraiser.

Gina and George clearly enjoy making their creations — a good thing, as they are spending about 25 hours a month working away at Hope & Main, to say nothing of time spent at events and marketing. It's a great creative outlet, and they have had fun crafting everything from mummies to mermaids for various events. They produce an impressive variety of flavors, well beyond the traditional pretzels, dipped in white, milk or dark chocolate. Flavors include Mint (dark) chocolate, Cookies n' Crème, Espresso almond (made with Borealis coffee espresso beans), Granola (made with Sacred Cow granola), Orange cashew, Orange hazelnut, Heath bar crunch, Fruity pebbles, Spicy peanut, Coconut, Maple Walnut, Chocolate & caramel, Pumpkin Spice, and Key Lime.

"We have some new ideas for varieties in mind, and plan on doing some R&D testing in the near future," said George. "One of the benefits of being a part of Hope & Main is the opportunity to collaborate with other members, which is what we have done with the Espresso almond and Granola varieties."

They're looking forward to identifying more opportunities for collaboration.

Gina and George are currently building their web presence, but in the meantime, you can find them on Facebook.
"I feel good, making a product that people like," said Gina. "It's a reasonable indulgence. You CAN have one."

G&G's Pretzels, Hope & Main

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