The Sweet Taste of America: Couple who left jobs to open sweet shop in Ramsey celebrate one year of business

A couple who changed careers to start a new business dream together are celebrating the one year anniversary of the opening of their American sweet shop.

Matthew and Laura Donnelly previously both worked in the transport industry – but decided to open The Sweet Taste of America, in High Street, Ramsey, after Matthew developed a taste for American sweets.

“A work colleague used to bring in American food for his night shift,” Matthew said. “I used to ask him what it was and he’d let me try it.

"I got hooked – some of the stuff was amazing but you couldn’t really get it anywhere. Ever since I’ve loved American food and the idea of making other foodies happy.”

Matthew and Laura’s shop offers people a host of American favourites – including Hershey’s chocolate, Reese's Pieces peanut butter cups, and Jolly Ranchers hard candies.

The store, which is painted bright pink on the inside, also sells a range of flavours of Fanta, which are not usually seen on shelves of UK supermarkets, and will have three new slushy machines installed in the store soon.

“When we opened we went with bright colours on the inside to make it like something from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory,” Matthew said.

"We wanted to make it a nice experience for customers and for people to walk in and say ‘wow’.”

The Sweet Taste of America celebrated its one year anniversary by giving the first ten customers who came into the store in in January goodie bags filled with American treats.

“We have quite a few regular customers,” he said. “It’s died down a bit because of the cost of living crisis, though.

"People aren’t spending as much money and we’ve noticed a bit of a hit with the energy prices rising and cost of living.

"We’re lucky to have a lot of regular customers who come in a lot.

"When we moved into the Ramsey store, we found there are a lot of American expats who are probably our biggest clients. They they love the American products because they grew up with them. It gives them a taste of home.”