They have freeze dried snacks!
Opening in May of 2022 at 789 Queen Street E. in the Sault’s downtown, 40 Below Freeze Dried Snacks has been creating a fun way to enjoy many of your favorite snacks in a new way through the magic of freeze drying!
Prior to the opening of the storefront, I remember receiving a message out of the blue from owner Stephanie Iezzi, who owns the business alongside her husband Frank. She had noticed my active presence on social media promoting many of our local businesses. She wanted me to sample some of the freeze dried snacks they had created and offer my honest opinion of them. Who was I to say no to some free and innovative sounding treats?
She delivered a wide variety of freeze dried candies and it was exactly as she described, a party in your mouth! I encouraged her to go ahead with her business idea and gave her a number of suggestions of how she could market and sell the creations. Needless to say, when I saw that a storefront was opening, I smiled and was so genuinely happy for her and her husband Frank that they had decided to go ahead and give it a go!
Stephanie tells Sault Business Matters that she was looking for a change and wanted to be her own boss and thus started thinking about what type if business she wanted but also what kind of business that our community could benefit from and enjoy. After doing some research, they invested in the equipment and began experimenting with products and packaging options.
Freeze dried snacks was something pretty unique and would be something fun both to experiment with but also for local residents. The freeze drying method basically freezes the product, dehydrates it thoroughly which creates a texture that is best described as crunchy and melt in your mouth. Some of the candies they freeze dry even increase in size! The possibilities for new products is always evolving so locals won’t get bored!
40 Below Freeze Dried Snacks carries a wide variety of popular freeze-dried candy you would expect to see in the candy aisle as well as fruit and vegetable so there are options for everyone! Freeze drying fruit and vegetables allows for 97 per cent of the nutritional value to remain in the finished product. Some of the items you can find are apples with cinnamon added, bananas, Skittles, marshmallows, Milk Duds, Starburst, and Nerds to name a few.
Fruit especially seems to have enhanced flavour when it comes out of the machine that they use to freeze dry.
In addition to their storefront, they also sell their popular items at Mill Market on Saturdays and the community has been so, so receptive and supportive. Stephanie says they really enjoy being at the Mill Market calling it an exceptional venue that is set to become even better, so they definitely will be continuing to sell there going forward!
The treats are perfect for parties especially for loot bags or party favours and yes, people can absolutely order customized bags for their special events. In fact, Stephanie tells us that they have had a lot of orders for customized bags of Skittles for party favours and they love doing them!
Why not make your next event extra special with a customized bag of goodies from 40 Below Freeze Dried Snacks! They are also open to working with other local businesses in the community so if your business is interested, reach out to them!
Being a part of downtown has been very rewarding for the couple and they like being located in the downtown core. In fact, Stephanie exclaimed, who wouldn’t like being downtown with so many unique, local businesses all around you!
So in case you are wondering, what are their best sellers? There are quite a few popular items, but Skittles, Dill Pickles (yes they even freeze dry pickles!) and strawberries are definitely at the front of the pack.
If you haven’t stopped in, please do!! They would love for you to experience a party in your mouth!
Located at 789 Queen Street East, they are open from 1-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday or you can find them at the Mill Market from 9 a.m. -2 p.m. on Saturdays. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram at 40_below_ssm