History of the Marshmallows Company

About the C.E.O.

Canaan Smith was born in 2003 to missionary parents. As a baby he traveled to remote tribes in Papua New Guinea, seeing thick bamboo forests and coffee plantations in a backpack carrier. Eventually the family settled into a “normal” American life and Canaan's love of cooking began to blossom.

At the age of 3 Canaan was already making his own scrambled eggs for breakfast and favored Food Network over morning cartoons. Although he has a deep affection for food and cooking, he is also passionate about playing tennis, studying science and learning new magic tricks.

Canaan says perfect Saturday starts with making a batch of buttermilk pancakes while listening to Bluegrass music and finishing the day with a candlelit family dinner listening to Frank Sinatra and watching Lawrence Welk on PBS before crawling into bed.

History of the Marshmallows Company

History of The Marshmallows Company

While riding in the back of the car one day, staring up at the sky, Canaan (age 4) commented how much clouds looked like marshmallows. From there he began thinking of all the marshmallow flavors he wanted to try. Having an adventurous cook for a mom, they decided to attempt making peach marshmallows at home, which proved to be a huge success.

In 2008, at the age of 5, Canaan made his first marshmallow sale at a party his parents were hosting. He designed a logo, set up a table, hired his 2 year old brother Ezra to help “man the table”,made and packaged marshmallows and sold them for $1.oo a bag. By the end of the night, he sold out of marshmallows and had determined to launch his very own marshmallow company. Within a few months he was selling regularly to a local coffee house and by 2009 he was selling his marshmallows both retail and wholesale.

In 2010 The Marshmallows Company was featured in the Lexington Herald Leader which brought even more awareness to his entrepreneurial endeavors and growing company. At the beginning of 2011 The Suze Orman Show on CNBC featured Canaan which launched his company into the national spotlight.

This young CEO has big plans for the future of The Marshmallows Company. He hopes to have his gourmet marshmallows in grocery stores around the country and would love to have his products for sale on QVC.

Canaan is adamant about keeping his marshmallows all natural and says one day his marshmallows will be made in a windmill powered factory, in turn helping the environment.