"A Sweets Story"

Mr. F.E. (Ted) Atkinson founded Summerland Sweets in 1962. Ted received a Bachelors Degree in Food Science at Oregon State University in Corvallis in the 1920’s. He worked at the Federal Agricultural Research Station in Summerland and acted as head of the food processing lab there for many years.

In the early 1960’s Ted was on the verge of retiring from his distinguished career. He was also a very active member of the local Rotary Club and decided to make a fruit jelly candy to raise funds for the club. Working out of a pickers’ cabin on his cherry orchard he produced candy for the club for a couple of years before he turned to commercial production. What began as a fundraising effort grew into a retirement project and blossomed into Summerland Sweets Ltd.!

What lies behind Ted's success was his dedication to quality. He was very particular about the type of fruit that went into his products and his guidelines, which are still followed today, include:

• only use top quality tree and vine ripened fruit.
• pick the fruit at the peak of maturity.
• process the fruit as quickly as possible to capture the maximum natural fruit flavour.
• cool the fruit products very rapidly to maintain the colour of the original fruit.

Since its modest beginnings the company has grown considerably and now offers you much more than just candy! Presently available is a full range of fruit based products including pancake syrups, gourmet jams, nut brittles, wine bases and gift packages.

Stop in for a free tour complete with product sampling and indulge in an ice cream cone while you're there.

Be sure to allow time to browse in the gift shop which displays Summerland Sweets products in a variety of pine gift boxes and gift baskets.

The store also carries attractive local pottery, candles and dried fruit creations.