Mindy’s Munchies has a wide selection of gift offerings.
Harry Mosca will always remember standing around a kitchen island with friends, trying to convince his wife Mindy to transform her baking hobby into a business.
Their efforts were rewarded when Mindy Mosca started showcasing her chocolate-dipped treats throughout her neighborhood. “We had a lot of phenomenal support from friends and family,” Harry Mosca said.
The pair opened their first brick-and-mortar Mindy’s Munchies location in River Vale, New Jersey, in 2006. Friends and family members pitched in to design the logo, the website and the interior of the store.
Now franchising, Mindy’s has corporate locations in New Jersey and Florida and franchised stores on the way in New Jersey and Maine. The company sells a variety of chocolate-covered treats, including marshmallows, Oreos, pretzels, waffle cones and more. It’s more than just chocolate too, with other toppings such as graham crackers, coconut and pecans.
The initial investment required to open a Mindy’s Munchies store ranges from $174,000 to $315,000.
With cocoa prices rising, the Moscas work to build volume and take less of a margin to ensure they aren’t priced out of the market, Harry Mosca, the company’s chief operating officer, said. “It’s really served us well from a business model, because we’re not the least expensive place in the market, but we’re by far not the most expensive place in the market. We provide a substantial amount of product for the cost,” he said.
Corporate gifting is a major source of revenue for Mindy’s Munchies. The company even hosts birthday parties and ladies night out parties where guests can make their own treats.
Mindy Mosca takes pride in her creativity, bringing desserts to the store that are different than what other gift-focused candy stores are doing.
“I remember being shaken awake at 3 o’clock in the morning with the ‘Eureka’ idea. She’s telling me, I’m going to take a marshmallow, I’m going to dip it in caramel, I’m then going to cover it with toffee pieces and then I’m going to dip it in dark chocolate or milk chocolate,” Harry Mosca recalled. “Not being a marshmallow lover, I was like, OK, it’s 3 o’clock in the morning, you couldn’t wait a few hours?”
His wife’s creation changed his perspective on the fluffy treat, though he pointed out everything tastes better when it’s covered in chocolate.
Mindy Mosca, who was unavailable for an interview, created Girl Scout-cookie inspired desserts, her own peanut butter cups and cookie butter offerings. The Biscoff cookie butter is turned into cup-like treat, with chocolate on the outside and cookie butter inside, plus pretzel pieces on top.
“It’s my favorite thing in the whole wide world,” Harry Mosca said.
The brand cuts down on waste significantly by using the less desirable products, like broken pretzels at the bottom of a bag, in its products. Mindy Mosca created “Jersey junk,” which comprises a chocolate base and random broken, leftover items—such as those pretzels or leftover graham crackers—that she crushes up and mixes in.
Mindy’s Munchies looks for owner-operators who, at least initially, will be in the store day to day. Networking in the community through advertising and showing up to events is another essential.
“Nobody runs a business like an owner-operator,” he said. “Nobody is able to cut costs, nobody provides the same level of customer service, nobody has more passion than an owner-operator.”