Teens enjoy sweet side of business

Candied apples dipped in fresh batches of homemade caramel and enveloped in toppings are the fruits of three Whitefish teenagers’ labor.

After about 30 weeks of learning the ins and outs of business, a six-minute pitch to investors and $1,000 in seed money, Appleholics was launched.

Sarah Perez, 17, Matthew Perez, 14, Emma Claire Spring, 14, are the owners and operators of Appleholics and the first class to complete the Young Entrepreneurs Academy.

“We were thinking we want to provide something Whitefish doesn’t have,” Spring said.

The academy is a yearlong, national after-school program offered for the first time to Whitefish middle school and high school students through the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce.

Through mentoring, field trips and other educational activities, the end goal is for students to start a local business.

“They basically teach you all the fundamentals of how to start a business,” Spring said.

“We went on different field trips to places like MacKenzie River Pizza where they taught us about franchising; we went to Total Label and saw all the mass production and we went to Old Town Creative Communications,” Spring said.

While the academy started with between eight to 10 students, it was the Appleholics trio that stuck it out to the final pitch.

Spring said after the pitch, investors decided whether they wanted to support their business plan. The Appleholics team received $250 each from Whitefish Mountain Resort Chief Executive Officer Dan Graves and entrepreneur Chris Graf. Sam’s Club contributed $500.

With a plan and seed money, the group applied for a business license.

On Tuesday, the Appleholics stand was set up at the Whitefish Farmers Market. An assortment of large, organic apples from classic caramel and the flavor of the week were arranged on a red tray atop a red-and-white checkered tablecloth. People stopped by to take samples and make purchases.

Each week the teens create, melt, dip and coat a batch of apples at the Whitefish High School kitchen to sell at the farmers market. Cooking in a commercial kitchen was key to earning certification from the health department, one of the biggest hurdles in owning a food business, according to the teens.

“The paperwork was this thick,” Spring said, holding out her index finger and thumb. “Getting our business license wasn’t too hard, but the health department, they’re very picky.”

Arriving at a final recipe was a long process, Spring said.

 “A lot of trial and error — it took a while but eventually we had a product,” Spring said.

The flavor of the week is known as “The Mystery.”

“Our special this week is a candied pecan and the pecans have cayenne pepper and chili powder, so it has a little bit of a bite to it,” Spring said.

Last week’s mystery flavor was a peanut butter pretzel apple, which has been a best seller, but the Appleholics’ signature flavor is the Lil’ Piggy. The Lil’ Piggy is an apple covered in caramel and bacon and drizzled with chocolate and maple syrup.

While they all have had a hand in product development, Sarah Perez has been given the title of “apple innovator,” or head chef, while Matthew Perez serves as quality control or “taste tester” and Spring is the “apple architect” who works behind the scenes marketing the product.

Starting up and operating the business is time-consuming, from keeping track of finances down to the precise measurements and cost per unit to product development and marketing.

With the seed money spent and a few dips in the red, the crew is now in the black and starting to see a profit they hope to reinvest in advertising. The three business owners plan to continue the business through high school.

Spring said future Young Entrepreneur Academy students should plan to commit a minimum of three hours a week and “stick with it,” Matthew Perez added.

The Appleholics stand is open from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Whitefish Farmers Market. Online orders will be available soon at www.appleholics.com. For more information about Appleholics or to place a special order call 309-4609.

The next session of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy begins in November.

Applications are available at the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce or by visiting www.whitefishchamber.org.

For more information about the academy, to be a guest speaker or volunteer, call 862-3501 or email chris@whitefishchamber.org.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.