Name of business: The Parched Goat

Type of business: Candy shop

Specialty: Freeze-dried snacks

Location: 6724 E. Whitmore Ave., Hughson

Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. daily

Contact: TheParchedGoat@gmail.com or (209) 985-3439

History of business:

There’s a new candy shop in Hughson, and it’s unlike anything most people or their taste buds have ever experienced.

On Saturday, Megan McMenimen and her family held a grand opening for their new business, The Parched Goat – a shop selling freeze-dried sweets.

Freeze-dried goods like fruits aren’t very uncommon, but candy is another thing. It’s an experience McMenimen wants to share with the community.

“I would say probably 20% of people still have never heard of freeze-dried candies, but even the people who have will constantly tell us that they haven’t seen anything like this before,” she explained.

The Parched Goat has over 150 types of candies and flavors in store, including chocolate bars, donuts, cakes and other popular sweets. It is the result of plenty of experimentation after freeze-drying fruits and other foods for her husband, Daniel’s, family, who has celiac disease, an immune reaction to eating gluten.

“It all happened so fast and one thing led to another,” McMenimen explained. “It was mid-2020 and we decided we were going to buy one freeze-drying machine to make gluten-free backpacking meals because whenever my husband’s family go hiking, there's no food for them to take. We started making the meals, and then we just started throwing candy in there, and everybody loved it.”

When placed in the freeze-drying machines, the products inside get freezed down to about negative 20 degrees. They spend anywhere from 6 to 12 hours in the machine depending on the product, gradually warming to about 150 degrees to sublimate all the liquid out as a gas. When the timer goes off, the products then defrost before they are ready to be packaged and eaten.

The business’ name, The Parched Goat, comes from the fact that there is no water in the candies and that her husband’s family loves to hike on goat trails. Not to mention the fact that McMenimen and her family raise a goat on their farm.

Trial and error may be an understatement. As McMenimen explained, not all food or candies can be freeze-dried, as some ingredients can cause them to explode. Even with 150 candies and flavor under their belts, they still experiment to see what else they can add to their store.

“People have tried all of these candies in their traditional form,” she said. “The most popular by far is Skittles because it's the most recognizable. Everybody's had it. So we always give those out as samples because the brain knows already what it should taste like. And then when you taste the difference, and it’s like ‘Whoa, this is something I’ve never experienced before.’ It’s such a fun process to try each candy and see the results. It’s fun to see how many boundaries I can push.”

The business has 11 freeze-dried machines running 24 hours, every single day. There is a small window that allows customers to look into the room and see all the machines running, adding to the already sweet experience. It’s a type of snack and process that is growing in popularity.

“It’s getting so popular. We’ve grown on social media and a lot of people have been calling. One lady from Stockton called and said that her grandson saw us on TikTok. We have people from Hilmar calling us, so it’s been so cool to see,” McMenimen said.

Growing their online presence has had much to do with McMenimen’s two daughters, Tara and Emily. Not only have they kept their parents in touch with the latest trends, but they recruit their friends to help with taste-testing and packaging.

“They have been a part of this entire business and it’s been so amazing to see them grow as entrepreneurs themselves,” said McMenimen, a former teacher. “It is all God because I have no experience in business. I'm not an entrepreneur, so I could have never sat down in 2020 and envision this idea alongside my family. But we met with a bookkeeper, and they go with us. When we met with the sign people, they're right there helping design the banners. They helped me pick the colors and come up with our logo. They test the products and come up with different ideas. There's not a single aspect that doesn't include our entire family, even the smallest details down to a size of bags… This has all been such a blessing.”