They Said it Could Not Be Done: How Stuffed Puffs is Disrupting The $40-Billion Candy Industry

When Michael Tierney was nineteen years old, he had an innovative idea that he assumed no one ever thought of: putting chocolate inside the marshmallow. He soon discovered that not only had others thought of it, but top candy manufactures invested (and wasted) millions of dollars trying to make this idea work.  For nearly a decade, he was faced with constant rejections of “this idea cannot be done,” but through perseverance and superhuman work ethic, Tierney eventually solved the unsolvable and created Stuffed Puffs, one of the only filled marshmallows in the market. This resulted in a national launch with Walmart, and today in its second year, Stuffed Puffs is carried in over 22,000 retail locations nationwide. I sat with Michael to talk through his long journey of launching Stuffed Puffs, how he solved the manufacturing challenge, and where the business is headed next.