WITH flavours that include whisky and chilli, it may not be Devon fudge in the traditional sense.

But that has not stopped Suzanne Smith's home-made sweets from being a huge hit with visitors and local people alike.

Suzanne is celebrating her first full year of trading by scooping two top food awards.

Her traditional clotted cream and peanut butter flavoured fudge both bagged the gold in the prestigious Taste of the West Awards 2009.

Her home-made fudge, of which there are 10 different flavours, is sold in 50 outlets across Devon and Cornwall which is not bad for a business that did not exist 18 months ago.

Originally Suzanne, who lives in Milton Damerel, sold her wedding business with dreams of taking life a little slower and becoming a full-time mum to her two young girls.

Then the credit crunch came and she found herself looking for another source of income.

She said: "I needed to make some money so I thought about what I could do. With the Euro being so strong it meant there would be more visitors to the West Country and I just thought about how I could capitalise on that."

Suzanne set about cooking her favourite confectionery in her farmhouse kitchen using an old recipe from her younger days.

She said: "My fudge has always been a favourite with friends and family and I had even sold some through Lizzy's Larder and Sanders garage, so I thought I would give it a go.

"I tried to make the business a bit different, to give it a unique selling point so I decided that, apart from the sugar, all the ingredients would be locally-sourced.

"It seemed to work, the shop owners and the customers seemed to like the idea."

Within four months, Suzanne was selling her Suzy Sweet Tooth fudge range through dozens of outlets.

Then she discovered she had won the first and only food award she has ever entered.

"Winning the two Taste of the West gold awards for my clotted cream and peanut butter flavoured fudge has made a huge difference," said Suzanne..

"When I walk into a shop now, people see the award and they take the product more seriously.

"Part of me is surprised at how rapidly the business has taken off, but I really do believe this is the best tasting fudge out there.

"I knew that if I got the price right and the packaging right so people could see the product, it would sell."

It has taken less than two years for mother-of-two Suzanne to establish her business.

She now has a head assistant, Sarah Harper, to help in the kitchen, but she still spends her evenings labelling.

"It is exhausting, but I love every minute of it. I get a real buzz from knowing that customers rave about the fudge I produce.

"I don't know what the future holds, but I am always on the look out for new outlets."

For more information go to: www.suzysweettooth.co.uk