‘Bad Louie’s Fudge’

A Sweet Business For Local Entrepreneur

By Nancy K. Crevier

If it tastes “So good, it’s bad,” Louis Cocozza has probably opened up a container of his homemade milk chocolate fudge for sampling. That is the catch phrase the Sandy Hook resident is using on his labels for Bad Louie’s Fudge, his first venture into the commercial food industry.

A printing salesman by trade with Imperial Graphics in Stratford, Mr Cocozza began making fudge way back in the 1980s, when the young businessman, then living in West Haven on the beach, was seeking a unique holiday gift for his clients. “My mom made this awesome fudge,” recalled Mr Cocozza, “and so I had her make me a batch and gave it to my General Electric clients. They loved it and wanted more, but my mom said, ‘You make it then!’”

The thing about Bad Louie’s Fudge, he said, is that “once you start a batch, you can’t stop stirring. It’s labor intensive.”

As his client base grew over the years, Mr Cocozza’s holiday fudge manufacturing grew, too. “I was almost sick of making fudge at one point, because I was making nearly 500 pounds to give away for Christmas gifts. It got to the point I was making it five nights of the week, on top of the stove, for a month ahead, in order to have enough for all of my clients, friends, family, and co-workers. But I liked doing it, really, and always got a good response,” he said.

 The recipe is no big secret, said Mr Cocozza. “It’s right there on the side of the Marshmallow Fluff jar,” he pointed out, “with a few tweaks that I’ve added.”

It is the Fluff and the precise measuring and cooking time that he believes gives Bad Louie’s Fudge the ultra-smooth texture he demands. “I’ve tasted a lot of other fudge recipes, and this one is great. The others usually have a ‘paste and granulated sugar’ texture, and kind of a grainy flavor. This one is creamy, with a great taste,” he said.

Fudge connoisseurs may wonder how they can get on Mr Cocozza’s clientele list and reap the holiday benefits thereof. Luckily for those devotees of handcrafted candy, he has recently entered into the world of commercial production. Just in time for the holidays, consumers will find Mr Cocozza’s “Bad Louie’s Fudge” in one-pound containers at Caraluzzi’s Newtown Market on Queen Street and Villarina’s on Route 25, as well as at more than 20 other medium-sized markets in Fairfield County, Litchfield County, and parts of New York State. Bad Louie’s Fudge is ideal for a house gift, he suggested, particularly during the holiday season. “Fudge is a real ‘comfort food’ that people love to get,” he said.

For years, Mr Cocozza had heard from people, “You should sell this stuff.” By 2007 he had come up with his catch phrase and had designed and printed labels for the fudge. “When we moved to Newtown in 2007, I knew I wanted to have space for a fudge kitchen,” he said.

He worked with the town to install a tiny, 140-square-foot commercial kitchen in a corner of his basement. Bad Louie’s Fudge was underway. A three-bay sink and a hand sink sit shoulder high up off of the floor, to assist with drainage and to free up the precious floor space. Stainless steel shelving and three stainless steel tables provide space for the 72-ounce bags of chocolate chips and five-gallon buckets of Marshmallow Fluff, measuring scales, and oversized mixing bowls. The showpiece of the room though, is an electric, pressurized water jacket kettle that can cook 25 pounds of fudge base at a time.

That particular piece of equipment is so difficult to find, however, that the first one Mr Cocozza located in Chicago was sold out from under him before he could pick it up. The second time he found the giant cooking kettle, on eBay, he drove back and forth to Ohio to pick it up. The kettle heats the mixture to a precise temperature, and holds it there while stirring with multiple paddles. While it must be constantly supervised, having the kettle has eased the physical labor involved in making the fudge.

“I’ve always had the entrepreneurial spirit,” admitted Mr Cocozza, “and I worked hard with the state and town to make sure the facility, labeling, packaging, and product were all up to code.” He is able to turn out up to 2,000 pounds of silky, milk chocolate fudge each year now, with or without walnuts — the only flavors he makes.

As lucrative as he wishes the fudge business to be, he has no plans to give up his day job, he said. “I’m a late night person anyway, so all of the fudge making takes place after most people’s normal working hours,” he said, and long after his wife and two small children are asleep. “Printing is my life, right now, but I’m having fun with the fudge. I still make it and give it away to all of my clients,” said Mr Cocozza.

Bad Louie’s Fudge is priced competitively with other handmade candies, he said, and is sold only in one-pound packages, uncut, except for the individually sized packages he makes for the Hilton to provide to Honors Program guests. It is available only in select stores. While Bad Louie’s Fudge is shelf stable, Mr Cocozza recommends serving it well chilled.

Corporate clients can have packages wrapped in “belly bands” featuring the corporation’s logo, and private clients can order the fudge by the case by contacting Mr Cocozza at badlouiesfudge.com or by calling him at 203-650-7369.

“Quality is so important,” stressed Mr Cocozza. “I taste every batch and if it doesn’t meet my standards, I throw it out.

“I don’t know where this is going to go,” he said. “I’ve been lucky in this recession that my printing business has been good, when a lot in the printing business have taken a beating. I would love to get big enough to hire out-of-work printers I know. I do see myself growing, but this is something I started out of the goodness of my heart. We’ll see what happens down the road.”

For more information visit badlouiesfudge.com.