"There are 12 billion cans of soda sold in vending machines a year, so if they buy a sandwich, there's a real profit," said Mark Kirkland, a Sandy resident who has been working to capitalize on his idea for the past decade to the Deseret News. "It's actually good. I'm not kidding," Kirkland said. "The bread is the main thing. It's soft and tastes great."
Candwiches faced a major blow earlier this month when it was revealed that a major investor was being sued by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Travis Wright, a Draper resident, promised investors returns of up to 24 percent on real estate, but instead used their money to support Candwiches, a movie about Pinewoord Derbies, and on vacations and home improvements for him and his family.
The negative publicity however, might be just the thing Kirkland needs to get the Candwich in the hands of consumers. Since news of the shady investor went public, Kirkland has been featured on Newsweek, National Public Radio, "The Colbert Report", and of course, 17 Tracks.
"I'm getting 10 million bucks of free publicity now, but a month later would have been better,"said Kirkland.
There are currently three flavors of Candwich planned - PBJ Strawberry, PBJ Grape, and BBQ Chicken, but Kirkland says he plans to roll out Pepperoni Pizza and French Toast.
"I want it to be more of a convenience food, like bottled water," Kirkland said. "When bottled water first came out, everyone thought, 'Who would pay for that when there's a drinking fountain over there?' Now, I have a bottle of water every day."
