About Us
Andrew and Abby Handlos are the founders of Sugar and Spice Farm, located in Unity (on the Freedom border). We grow a wide variety of herbs and spices, with no pesticides or chemicals. We are new to the Camden Farmers’ Market and are very happy to be part of the community! We grew up in the midwest, met in college, and eventually found our way to Maine, where we truly felt like we had found home. Abby is an amateur artist, writer, and gardener. Andrew holds several degrees, including a culinary degree, a chemistry degree, and a medical degree. We both hold family and community near to our hearts and prioritize them over our careers, which is why Andrew left a career in medicine to care for his parents when they needed him.
OUR STORY
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The Sugar:
A&A Chocolates is near and dear to our hearts. We started this company to share some luxury with the homeless population in Lebanon, PA. Andrew and his mother would put together fancy confections and cupcakes, which Abby would help decorate, to donate to a local shelter. Andrew continued to develop delicious confections and chocolates, drawing on his culinary and chemistry knowledge to teach himself the temperamental art and science of making and working with chocolate. We use only coverture grade chocolate, which is the highest standard for grading chocolate, and all of our chocolates are hand dipped by an artisan chocolatier. We provide a wide selection on our regular menu from crispy molasses toffee to various flavors of rich truffles. Each week we bring a special variety of chocolate, one of which is included in our 10 piece special box as well as being available to sample or purchase as individual pieces.
The Spice:
So we started making spice blends to fill a gap on our shelf. We looked and looked for a few spice blends, but everything we were finding either used a disproportionally large amount of salt (sometimes upwards of half) or used a variety of preservatives that we sought to avoid. It was because of this we decided to make our own. For each blend, we performed extensive research in the cultures background and the individual ingredients in addition to, when possible, speaking with people directly of that culture. We do our best to source locally or directly from the source in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint and provide the best possible quality. We also strongly believe that the spices need to be the freshest possible as they leave our inventory so that they have the longest shelf life in your kitchen. You will be able to appreciate the difference when you smell them. Any of the spices we deem past our ideal holding time get donated to the local AIO food pantry in a time frame that they get to benefit from the freshest spices too.