Colorful and fun collections of candies and more

By Sue Baldani

Like most kids, 10-year-old Henry MacLane loves candy. Unlike most kids, Henry decided to turn his love of sweets into a business and created the Chocolate Fat Fish Company.

“I started this company three years ago when I had an idea,” he says. “I package our mixed candy in clear little cellophane bags and color code it by separating each bag into different colors.” Depending on the order, it usually takes him about a week to prepare 75 to 100 packages. One order alone was for 144 packages!

There are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink and purple packages and each one weighs about two ounces. “They’re great birthday party favors and kids love them,” says Henry.

When Henry first started his business, he planned to package unwrapped candies such as gummy bears, but was told he needed a license to sell unwrapped candies. At that point, most 10 year old kids would’ve probably quit. But not Henry.

“He asked how he could sell in stores and decided to iterate and create a medley of these colorful pre-wrapped candies, package them and rebrand,” says dad Jared MacLane. “And lo and behold, that landed him in stores.

Henry, adds his dad, operates the entire business on his own from developing the website, designing the logo and packaging, to conceptualizing the product and how it should be displayed in stores. He also initiates the meetings with store owners and conducts the sales meetings, etc.”

“Henry is a born leader, and has an incredible amount of drive and perseverance,” adds mom Katherine Petty MacLane. “To say I’m proud is an understatement. He has a gift for business. Even at the onset of Chocolate Fat Fish, he would ask for ingredients for a lemonade stand to accompany his candy, calculate his profit and pay me back immediately because he didn’t want to owe anything.” 

Today, in addition to his website, his colorful packaged candies can be found at Katie’s Hallmark stores in Brentwood and Belle Meade. And candy isn’t the only thing that Chocolate Fat Fish sells. There’s everything from fun T-shirts and towels to tote bags in its online store.  

Go to www.ChocolateFatFish.com to shop and find out more about Henry, his candies, and other cool merchandise.

Written for Brentwood Lifestyle magazine in Tennessee.