Warm and Toasty
Warm and Toasty
The pandemic reshaped how and where orders happened. Farmers Markets never disappeared in Burlington’ s outdoor setting, but due to the constraints of the pandemic, e-commerce continually surged. That mix of curbside community and doorstep shipping created entrepreneurial resilience. Late in 2020, she hired her first packaging helper, then a production teammate so she could step back into strategy. Early wholesale and direct, local business partnerships with markets and businesses such as Slate, Golden Hour Gift Company, and Healthy Living gave her sustainable and consistent cash flow without overextending inventory. The true pivot arrived in summer 2023, when the company moved into its own kitchen. Capacity, autonomy, and work rhythm changed overnight. With real room to expand, Shuman started handing off the roles she’ d outgrown, not out of detachment, but out of necessity. She elevated her employee, Katelyn Whitman, into a full leadership lane: Director of Business Development.
Shuman explains that the position was designed to drive wholesale expansion through active outreach. She entrusted production operations to Thea Dicey, who she touts as a team member that has a gift for turning fine-tuned kitchen processes into repeatably excellent products. With capable people in the right positions, wholesale grew quickly and sustainably.
Still, Shuman admits that the first year in the new space was somewhat difficult. New promises revealed new problems. Shuman fondly refers to this period in the growth of her company as their“ Year of Refinement.” She reined in her impulse to chase constant novelty, returned to making every batch for a full cycle, and rewrote recipes into crystal-clear formats so anyone stepping in could execute without ambiguity. The payoff was cultural as much as operational.“ Now everything is suspiciously easy,” she says with a laugh.“ Last year, certain processes felt difficult. This year, the transitional considerations have paid off. Everything takes less time and less effort, and we have a great time doing it.”
Today the team includes three full-time employees, with part-timers added during a holiday surge that doubles headcount. Vermont Marshmallow Company ships nationwide, is carried in close to a hundred stores yearround, and adds seasonal accounts in the fourth quarter of every year. Their footprint spans more than a dozen states, which are largely concentrated on the East Coast with a scattering farther afield. The Burlington Farmers Market remains a Saturday anchor when the season allows, an enduring thread connecting the brand to the Vermont community that shaped it from the beginning.
When reflecting on how the food culture of Vermont shaped her business from its earliest days, Shuman explains that between the farmers markets, shared values of independent business, and a community that prizes bold and enterprising foodmakers, a support network is created where opportunistic and brave entrepreneurs can truly thrive. Shuman found herself surrounded by women starting businesses at the same time, a peer group of female powerhouses that shared industry lessons step by step. Shuman mentions Allyson Sprinkel of Pepper Lee CBD as a founder whose trajectory seemed to move in tandem with hers, inspiring her to double down on her commitment to excellence as a female Vermont business owner.
Reflections, Reach, and What Comes Next
As Vermont Marshmallow Company continues to press forward while building on its existing momentum, Shuman’ s business is entering a new season. It’ s one where the making process supports creativity instead of smothering it, and where leadership means crafting lanes for other team members to thrive. Shuman is currently gearing up for a busy season of Holiday production again, and is grateful to be handing off several aspects of production to qualified team members. She adds:“ I’ m excited to see them take the opportunity and run.”
Shuman is generous when asked for advice, especially for women food-makers and entrepreneurs who are standing on the edge of a great idea.“ First, make it exist. Then, make it good. Get clear on the elements of your idea that are crucial to its soul, and give yourself permission to be agile with the rest.” The company’ s evolution proves the point. A holiday experiment in 2018 became a 2019 launch. A shared kitchen became a home base. A one-woman show became a team. A simple marshmallow became an elevated, renowned Vermont culinary experience.
12 VERMONT MAGAZINE