TRANSCRIPT: Sweet success: Syracuse candy shop builds global fanbase on TikTok and YouTube
Noah Love: From hand-pulled peppermint to peanut brittle perfection, one Syracuse candy shop is proving that old-fashioned sweets never go out of style, especially when paired with a modern twist. Nestled in East Syracuse, Hercules Candies has been crafting handmade confections since the early 1900s. But lately, it’s not just the candy drawing crowds, it’s the content. With more than one million followers on TikTok and YouTube, the family-run business has become a social media sensation. Their videos, featuring satisfying candy-pulling, quirky commentary and family banter, have racked up tens of millions of views.
Terry Andrianos: That just changed everything. Social media leveled the playing field between us and the big box stores.
Love: Orders now pour in from across the country and the world, with fans eager to taste the sweets they’ve watched being made online.
Andrianos: Our online sales now equals 70% of our business versus before YouTube it equaled probably 10%.
Love: The online presence has helped more than just sales.
Craig Andrianos: Once we started doing this now my parents don’t have to pay for ads anymore. We actually get paid to promote the business which is kind of cool.
Love: It’s not only appealing to those watching online, but for the employees as well.
Scott Stratton: “I love it so much. It’s so fun. We get very good views and everybody is just so welcoming there. It’s gone nothing but up so I mean it’s going pretty good.
Love: Sweet, sticky and social, Hercules candy is showing us that even century-old recipes can go viral. And I tried some and can say it is pretty good.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – From hand-pulled peppermint to peanut brittle perfection, one Syracuse candy shop is proving that old-fashioned sweets never go out of style, especially when paired with a modern twist.
Nestled in East Syracuse, Hercules Candies has been crafting handmade confections since the early 1900s. But lately, it’s not just the candy drawing crowds, it’s the content.
With more than one million followers on TikTok and YouTube, the family-run business has become a social media sensation. Their videos, featuring satisfying candy-pulling, quirky commentary and family banter, have racked up tens of millions of views.
“That just changed everything. Social media leveled the playing field between us and the big box stores,” Terry Andrianos, co-owner of Hercules Candies said.
Orders now pour in from across the country and the world, with fans eager to taste the sweets they’ve watched being made online.
“Our online sales now equals 70% of our business versus before YouTube it equaled probably 10%,” Andrianos said.
The online presence has helped more than just sales.
“Once we started doing this now my parents don’t have to pay for ads anymore. We actually get paid to promote the business which is kind of cool,” Craig Andrianos, Terry’s son and YouTube coordinator said.
It’s not only appealing to those watching online, but for the employees as well.
“I love it so much. It’s so fun. We get very good views and everybody is just so welcoming there…it’s gone nothing but up so I mean it’s going pretty good,” Scott Stratton, the TikTok coordinator said.