Lorne Goodman has been in the sticky business for 21 years. The Truro, N.S., native picked up his skills in marketing, plant and quality management in his 20 years at Canada Packers Inc., and transferred that knowledge to his job as GM of Crosby’s Molasses, a post that involves, well, “doing whatever needs doing.”

The company, based in Saint John, N.B., is small, family run and has been that way for decades. According to Goodman, “Crosby Molasses Co Ltd is 133 years old. Jim Crosby is the fourth generation to manage the company, and his eldest son James is working as our purchasing and logistics manager. Maintaining the family presence is a core value for the company.”

Its deep-rooted history notwithstanding, Crosby’s is by no means resistant to change. Last year, the company began doing consumer advertising for the first time, the results of which Goodman calls “truly outstanding.” The ad agency M5 maintains the site – crosbys.com – and this year, they’ve hired a marketing manager to develop and sustain a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Goodman says the “Bake It Like Grandma” campaign achieved “huge awareness” and favourable publicity for Crosby’s. The recipes and videos featuring “Grandma Fancy” are available on the site – viewers get not only cuisine hints, but a healthy dose of double entendre (Banners such as “No wonder all the men want to get into my pantry” are cutely cross-stitched above links). In addition to being oddly seductive, Grandma Fancy manages to teach simple, practical, new ways to cook with molasses. “Fancy” Pulled Pork, anyone?

The most interesting part of being GM, Goodman says, is trying to stay on top of the latest marketing tools to attract new customers. One challenge involves trying to reach the restaurant industry in a bigger way. “Our primary challenge is entice new consumers into trying molasses as well as to get our current consumers to use molasses in different applications.” Though there is, of course, market competition, Goodman says “Molasses is a rather unique product. If you live in Eastern Canada, Fancy Molasses is a staple in your kitchen. A number of restaurants put it on their table to be used as a topping or spread, along with the ketchup.” 

The Canadian market is the company’s primary focus, but they also ship product to the States as well as to international locations; Goodman says that Crosby’s “SQF 2000 quality rating (the Safe Quality Foods Institute rating for Manufacturers, Distributers, and Brokers) makes us very desirable to overseas customers.”

If you’ve never had this sweet treat, you’re missing out. A pure food made by using the juice extracted from mature sugar cane, Crosby’s products have just one ingredient: molasses. You can find the details of what exactly it is and how it’s made on the site.   I’d bet you didn’t know Blackstrap molasses is used as a colouring agent in foods, for example. With contemporary restaurateurs increasingly aiming to offer foods that hearken back to simpler times when healthy, fresh ingredients trumped complex, unpronounceable ones, using molasses as a condiment and food component could be a no-brainer.

Crosby’s products have certainly stood the test of time, and have proven successful.  Goodman thinks that is because “over the decades, the family has had an unwavering eye on understanding our customers’ requirements and meeting them, every time.”