Southern Supreme fruitcake’s humble beginnings started when hairdresser Berta Lou Scott wanted to expand into a business with the fruitcakes she made for friends and clients each season. Little did the Scott family know then that the fruitcake business would expand into a business that has become a destination in Bear Creek. Berta Lou is now known as Meme and her family is part of the business.
Southern Supreme fruitcake is advertised as everything that fruitcake should be – rich, moist and full of nuts. The fruitcakes also contain English walnuts, fresh pecans, golden raisins, dates, pineapple and candied cherries.
Each season more than 125 employees make fruitcakes, cookies, chocolate treats, covered nuts, cheese florets, jellies, jams and more at their facility and showroom. Their busy season is, of course, the Christmas season.
“Over 40 years ago we began selling our fruitcake at a Christmas show in Raleigh,” said son Randy Scott. “At the time we could make about 100 pounds of fruitcake in a day out of the converted garage. Today we can make 3,000 pounds a day at our facility.” In fact, over a season, Southern Supreme makes about 200,000 pounds of fruitcake.
“Back when we first started the biggest challenge we had is to get people to try our product,” said Scott. “People had a stigma when it came to fruitcake. But once they tried it, we were able to get them to come to our booth and buy it.”
Over the years, Southern Supreme has built a steady customer base from return customers that make a destination trip to Bear Creek or through a strong mail order business. As the business grew, so did the offerings. While fruitcake remains the most popular seller, cheese florets are the second most popular. Other favorites include maple crispies, fruitcake cookies and cinnamon pecans.
“We used to do several shows each season, especially in the month of November,” said Scott. “Now we sell at our showroom and online.”
Fresh Market grocery stores also carry the 8-ounce size Southern Supreme fruitcakes. Southern Supreme also sends orders to all 50 states and many fruitcakes are sent by families of troops serving overseas that are looking for a taste of home. “If you call us or place an order online we can ship to any address,” said Scott.
Southern Supreme is open daily through Dec. 23 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Orders can also be made online, to guarantee Christmas delivery, order by Dec. 10.