For many around the country, Christmas isn’t complete without the plum pudding. The rich, fruity dessert can take months to mature, and for one Sydney baker, pudding is big business. Using a century-old family recipe, Itha’s Puddings has grown from a home kitchen to a custom built factory, producing up to 20 thousand puddings for the festive season.
“Itha’s Puddings is named after my mother Itha," explains Mandy Krywulycz, owner of Itha’s Puddings.
"Her mother’s name was also Itha, and so it really is a generation after generation of Itha’s puddings."
“My mother was pretty well known amongst a lot of people for her puddings, and she couldn't keep up with the requests."
The old family recipe dates back to at least 1912. Source: SBS
"She was a little bit reluctant to turn it into a business at her age. So I convinced her that we’d do it together or teach me how to do it, and it took off from there.”
The proof is in the pudding. In 2012, Choice named Itha’s Puddings the best puddings in Australia, driving the business to national recognition.
“I started getting phone calls on my mobile from elderly ladies wanting to buy puddings, at 6:15 in the morning," explains Mandy.
"That day was a meltdown, my website crashed, my email melted down and we sold a lot of puddings.”
While famous for their puddings, Mandy has since expanded the range to accommodate corporate orders.
“We took the decision of turning Christmas pudding into an idea you can give as a present. We’re really trying to be a one-stop Christmas gift shopping market.”
Due to the seasonal nature of the business, Mandy must outlay funds all year before seeing a return, with 95% of all sales occurring in the 8 weeks before Christmas.
In 2012, Choice named Itha's Traditional Plum Pudding the best Christmas pudding in Australia. Source: SBS
“It is difficult because every year you’re forecasting how many puddings you are going to need.
"We rely on selling a large number of puddings.
"It is a very expensive product to make, the margins are relatively low when you’re buying good quality brandy from the Barossa, and good quality fruit,” says Mandy.
Committing to a warehouse and commercial kitchen was a huge expense for the whole family. Mandy explains that despite it being a seasonal business, they need to work hard all year round.
"We start in early February, we work pretty hard all year right through to December 24th.
"Then we get a couple of weeks off and start again. It’s relentless.”
Mandy sells her puddings through her online store, and also opens a popup store in Sydney’s Miranda. In recent years, changing consumer behavior has started to impact the selling season.
Mandy expects to sell between 17,000 and 20,000 puddings this Christmas season. Source: SBS
“In our pop up shop, Christmas Eve is probably the third highest turnover day we have," explains Mandy.
"People are leaving everything to the last minute.
“The biggest lesson I guess is learning not to panic when you've made a warehouse full of pudding, and it’s October and people haven’t started buying it yet.
"It’s all ready to go and nothing’s moving out of the warehouse, you have to be patient and trust it.”
