How 2026 has gone so far..

We kicked off 2026 with a plan (a plan!). This is rare. Usually one person will have an idea and within a week or two all the logistics/packaging/recipes will be ready and it'll be live on the site. This is the case for many of our non-Goupie goodies like our Romney Marshmallow, Jen the Hen, Goupie Mummies, and even last year's Yule Logs.

This is a great show of efficiency, but it's not great if you're hoping for a super successful launch. Whilst making the product is a large chunk of the work, taking the time to promote it is a whole other story. So this year we tried something different.

Three Limited Editions, one seasonal special. That was the plan. It was my job to come up with the limited flavours, design the packaging, and make sure photos, ads, newsletters, and website listings were ready to go in advance. 

I had a list of flavours I was aiming to create for our limited releases and in January I started experimenting in the kitchen. None of these ideas included what turned out to be our first release: Cookies & Cream. Once I'd had the idea for a Cookies & Cream Goupie everything else was pushed down the list. I'm sure you can agree that was an excellent choice.

I made a test batch and gave it to the family to try. My partner Dan was immediately obsessed with it and was very disappointed when the slab of Cookies & Cream we had at home wasn't immediately available for eating. I had to take photos first!

After it was approved by the taste-testers it was time to create the packaging. Usually we buy our labels in large print runs but that wasn't going to work for a limited release so I had to find another solution. The perfect solution was found in the local print company who used to do all our printing when Goupie first started back in 2009. With that sorted I had to start creating promotional materials and stop Dan from eating all the pieces before I had a chance.

By February everything was ready to go. The site was updated, customers were emailed, labels were printed. We launched. Our white chocolate suppliers immediately tell us they won't be having stock for another 2 months. Oh dear.

Mum scrambles to find another supplier. The chocolate is good but the recipe is different. Now our labels are wrong. We're getting orders. It's a bit of a panic. We print new ingredient lists to stick over the labels. It's not sexy but it works. We have a lot of happy customers! (and if anyone has wondered what that sticker was all about now you know!)

Phew, one release down! And it's pretty successful! Now I have to come up with the rest of the year's flavours and design the packaging so we can put the label orders through with our main supplier (we had a lot of trade interest with our first Limited Edition flavour so we decided to make the next ones available to our wholesale customers meaning we could get the labels printed when we did another restock). 

We hum and har about the choice for summer but ultimately I decide on coconut. I'm a little nervous because I know it's a divisive flavour but I love it, and it's about time we had a coconut Goupie! We also decided on our autumn flavour but after some failed experimentation I decide to have a rethink... ...and then it comes to me. Cinnamon Bun!

Cosy, sweet, and undeniably seasonal, I whip up a batch and immediately fall in love. Perfect! Flavours are sorted, now it's time for packaging, photos, and promo. Feeling ahead of the game. Then came Easter.

Despite our plan (remember: three limited releases and a seasonal special) just before Easter we released five new products: A Mylk Bunny, Two Egg Bars, A Family Hamper, and a Gift Box. Whoops! Cue more photography and promo!

Meanwhile in the background Grace had working out the logistics for one our most exciting releases yet. A Goupie Selection Box!!!!

We wanted this Selection Box to be super special, full of nostalgia and delicious chocs. We also wanted it to be in line with our values: sustainable, quality, fair, and conscious. All the printed boxes I looked at just didn't feel right. They didn't have the right look and we'd have to commit to a much higher order number than we felt comfortable with. Then Grace had a stroke of genius! We've loved Pretty Tiffin for years (see photo). They're a small family run business just like us and they sell some of the most beautiful hand-painted tins and kitchenware available. And they wanted to work with us!

After a little back and forth we found the perfect design. Then we just had to make the rest of the packaging and decide what flavours went in it. This was actually pretty difficult. We've got 17 regular flavours of Goupie, plus 3 Christmas flavours, and now 3 Limited Editions. That's without even mentioning our 18 different Dips & Dabs.

Striking the perfect balance between family favourites and playful surprises was the goal. Grace, mum, dad, and I sat discussing possible combinations for a while before finally settling on: Hazelnut, Lemon Meringue, Salted Sticky Toffee, Cherry & Almond, Orange, Tiramisu, and Original. A mix we hoped had something for everyone (please feel free to let us know what you'd change). People would also be able to buy refills of some of our other flavours too in case we'd missed their favourites.

All of this happened before May. That's pretty big for us! Now we just had to cross our fingers and hope that you guys wanted what we'd come up with...