A Made-in-America Success Story Inspired by the S’more
In 1927, Loretta Scott Crew shared her recipe for “some mores” in the publication Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts and an iconic American treat was born.
Since then, hundreds of millions of s’mores have been shared, making it an all-American summer staple. Hershey reports that their chocolate is used in more than 750 million s’mores a year, but gourmet options are growing in popularity with luxury chocolates, fruits, and various crackers.
The s’more was the inspiration for City Bonfires - a made in America company making portable mini bonfires with luxury s’mores kits.
Neighbors Chris McCasland and Mike Opalski had just lost their jobs in the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic. They were sitting around a campfire making s’mores with their families and had their ‘ah hah’ moment – how could they shrink the firepit to something anyone could use anywhere, making it easy to enjoy a s’more no matter where you were.
With no work on the horizon, Chris and Mike jumped in with the idea in August of 2020 (coincidentally on National S’mores Day), each investing just $5,000. Within the first four months, they sold more than $3 million in bonfires and s’mores kits and more than $17 million over the last two year. They’re selling in every Wegmans, will be in Bed Bath and Beyond soon, and provide private labeling to hundreds of companies.
They’re also employing colleagues that lost their jobs in 2020 and keep everything they make 100% made in America.
To celebrate National S’mores Day, City Bonfires is giving away an RV camping adventure at https://citybonfires.com/blogs/cb-blog/giveaway.
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