A S’moregy of Questions about Haypenny

I’ve posted a couple pieces about Haypenny Confections, but had yet to really speak with the owners – Danielle and Tanner Loveless. Once I had finally tried their delicious products, I knew I had to get some more in-depth info about them and their upstart company.

I learned about their company through their “Our Story” section on their website, but I still had a few questions, which Danielle was gracious enough to answer.

HCS: Where did the name Haypenny Confections come from?

Loveless: We originally called our company “S’moregy,” a nod to our lighter side, but we thought that would pigeonhole us into one category of food (and some of our friends and family didn’t quite get the comedy behind it). In addition to wanting to have fun, one of our goals for the company is to revitalize a classic favorite and remind people that there was a time when these foods were made with care. We found that Haypenny has the fun and easy sound that we wanted while also reaching into the past. A ha’penny was a Victorian coin worth half a cent, and we joked that if we failed we wouldn’t have a ha’penny left to our names. We used a variation of the spelling, and there you have it!

Are you using a local chocolatier yet? If so, who is it?

We have a local chocolatier hard at work trying to develop the perfect chocolate to go with our s’mores, but no reveal yet – not until it’s perfect.

You guys both have day jobs correct?

Yes, we both still have day jobs, so sleep is a distant memory! I am a Charleston County School District music teacher, Tanner works in finance. We each have our undergraduate and masters degrees in our respective fields and I never would have imagined I would be in the candy business (although I’ve always had a sweet tooth).

Is the goal to make Haypenny your full-time gig?

We enjoy the work and like running a company, and we are constantly coming up with new flavors and ideas for our treats (like our beer ‘mallow for Holy City Brewing Company), (but) I personally would like to keep teaching music, because it is my first love and I’m not ready to give it up completely! Tanner’s aspiration has always been to run his own business, so this fits in well with both his training and life goals. And despite the few warnings we received against starting a company with your spouse, we find that we work very well together as a team; in fact, we met when we co-taught an outdoor adventure class together in Utah, so I guess you could say we were business partners from the start!

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