Our Story

Pamela Robinson - Owner & Executive Chef

Todd Robinson - Operations & Support

OUR STORY: Pamela was a single mom raising 3 boys. She was known in her community for her creative "optical illusion" specialty cakes, elegant multi-tiered wedding cakes, and decorative cookies. Over the years, many people had told her that with her creative culinary talents she should go into business, but she'd never had the vehicle to do it. Todd was a widower with 4 grown daughters. He was a long-time entrepreneur who had launched a Silicon Valley media agency and a CGI software company during the dot-com boom, started a motorcycle racetrack school running events in California and Nevada training thousands of riders, and a motorsports business that after 17 years was struggling to survive the tariff wars and collapse of the motorsports parts industry. They met in 2017 and married the following year. Motorcycles had been a life-long passion for Todd, and Pamela had always wanted to ride. So it was only natural that Todd proposed to Pamela with a key to a Kawasaki Ninja 300 sportbike as an engagement gift on the rocks on the beach in Pacific City, Oregon. She was going to say yes anyhow...but this certainly sweetened the proposal offer. Pamela had left her career in supply chain to work with Todd at his parts business, but knew she wanted to use her culinary skills to bring in extra money as she saw Todd stressed over the struggles in his business and suffering from chronic migraines. She suggested making and selling soft peanut brittle, a popular known delicacy in the Inland Northwest (she and her mother had for years made it to give away at Christmas). Todd researched the gourmet confections market space for her, and found it was a good opportunity for them to let Pamela pursue her passion while making extra money. THE STARTUP PHASE: Pamela launched Robinson Soft Brittle in summer 2019 with some startup help from her parents,  with Todd providing business advice and operational support. They did their first public event that July with a group called "CDA Makers" which hosts local artisan marketplace events, and were overwhelmed with the response, selling almost all the candy they'd brought in just 3 hours. This was also where Pamela first met Stephen Granat (Abide Culture Coffee), a local small batch specialty coffee roaster, whose coffee would be used in their Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Bark (Nicaragua roast) Caramel Macchiato Bark (Peru roast), and Java 72 Dark couverture-grade dark chocolate (Peru Roast). This was followed by the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Street Fair and Fall Fest at a local ski resort. At the latter event, although bringing several hundred pounds of soft peanut brittle, they sold out so quickly that they had to pull an all-nighter cooking candy right in the middle of the festival to make enough candy to finish the weekend. Clearly, they were on to something big. GROWING & OVERCOMING CHALLENGES: The next step was creating their first original recipe creation: Chocolate Hazelnut Soft Brittle™. After dozen upon dozen of failed attempts they finally had a breakthrough and a delicious original creation...although it took over fifteen months to truly perfect the process. That was followed by several unique chocolate bark creations. Todd then suggested using Apple Brandy in English Toffee as Pamela was making him a treat, and their line of original liqueur-based toffee creations was launched to dramatic success. As the 2020 pandemic brought many challenges to everyone around the country, the Robinsons were no different. Through crazy hours, multiple side hustles, and the support of an army of very loyal customers, the business survived and continued to grow. In mid-2022 they made the decision to "move upscale" and start sourcing chocolate from Belgium. HITTING OUR STRIDE: The business, renamed "Robinson Confections" to more clearly cover a broader product lineup, now offers three variants of soft brittle, 7 types of specialty Belgian chocolate bark ("bark" simply means tempered chocolate with inclusions), their original creation line of 8 liqueur-based English Toffees, and a line of top-tier couverture grade dark chocolates ("couverture" is the top grade of chocolate available in the world) which are also keto, paleo, and low-carb. [VIEW/DOWNLOAD TASTING GUIDE] As of Spring 2024 the business occupies a 3200 square foot production facility in Hayden, Idaho with several retailers, a busy online business, and corporate clients around the country. INTERNATIONAL CHOCOLATE SALON AWARDS: 2021 Mexican Hot Chocolate - Gold, Bronze, and two honorable mentions (Best Spicy Chocolate) 2022 Nutty Irishman Toffee - Gold, Bronze, and two honorable mentions (Top Artisan Toffee). Caramel Macchiato - two Bronze awards and two honorable mentions (Best White Chocolate) White Russian Toffee - two honorable mentions (Top Artisan Toffee) Java 72 Dark - honorable mention (Best Dark Chocolate Bar) 2023 Lime Fresco Margarita Toffee - two Bronze awards and an honorable mention (Top Artisan Toffee) A word from the Robinsons: "We are so appreciative for the overwhelming response to our confections and the opportunity to do something we love that brings joy to people. This is our "why"...and we get to do it every day. By buying our award-winning confections, you are directly supporting a family owned and operated small business, where we in turn employ people in our area and invest back into our community. But in the end, our story is about how we can be a part of YOUR story...how we can make your life just a little bit better. Whether you’re sharing our candy with someone as a gift, received it as a gift, or are just enjoying a moment of true bliss with our confections, we are thankful that what we do here ultimately enriches your life." Robinson Soft Brittle: Proudly made in Idaho