FAQ

To us, Helliemae is an iconic 1940s broad: strong and sassy, she's Rosie the Riveter's best friend, and after a shift at the munitions factory, she goes home to can produce from her victory garden. She loves food, friends and good times. We try do to her proud.

Everything we make tastes like your childhood, even if you've never had it before. Seriously: that's the goal we set for ourselves, to make the best version of whatever we do. All our caramels are rich, fresh and creamy, with some robust bitterness from deeply caramelized sugar. Nostalgia amped up with great ingredients and modern techniques.

We make all of our caramels in small batches with the best ingredients: cane sugar, butter, cream, fruit and spices. Then, we cut and wrap the caramels on equipment built in France in the 1950s, using compostable cellophane. Our French production line is gorgeous and cranky, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

We work with great retail stores across the country, and we love sending Helliemae's fans their way. But, because every store carries different items from Helliemae's, we can't tell you with certainty who has what in stock today. If you're in a pinch and looking for a store near you, email us at orders@saltcaramels.com and we'll do our best to get you hooked up. And, if you're lucky enough to live in Denver, the best Helliemae's selection in the nation is at The Perfect Petal - more details below

We can ship all your gifts out, to different addresses, and with custom hand-written gift notes. Just email orders@saltaramels.com and we'll get it all set up.

All our caramels and sauces contain dairy, and our Salty Peanut Butter Caramels contain peanuts. Because we bake and use peanuts and tree nuts in our kitchen, all our products may contain trace amounts of wheat, peanuts and/or tree nuts. Ingredients for each of our products are listed on the individual product pages.

We're located in Wheat Ridge, CO, just west of Denver. Our production kitchen is housed in a renovated mid-century service station. Because we spend our days making caramel, we're not set up for visitors. But, good news: we work with several retailers in Metro Denver, and the one closest to us is the best-stocked. The Perfect Petal is open 7 days a week, carries everything we make (except the 10oz bags), and they get fresh caramels weekly:

The Perfect Petal (303) 480-0966

3600 W 32nd Ave Denver CO 80211

Shipping Basics

Helliemae's ships within the lower US 48. For standard shipping (always free over $50 - now free over $25), we usually ship USPS Priority Mail, although sometimes we use USPS First Class or UPS Home Delivery when that makes sense. When your order ships, you'll receive an email with the tracking number so you can keep an eye out for your goodies. And please keep an eye out - a sunny porch isn't caramel-friendly.

During the warm season, usually April - October, we ship using cold packs and thermal liners, and we only ship on Mondays and Tuesdays. We do that to ensure that your caramels arrive in the best possible shape. All the protection in the world won't shield caramels from a July weekend in a shipper's warehouse.

We usually prepare the next day's shipments at night (we are on staggered shifts due to COVID), so if you get your order in by noon MT, we can ship it the next day (or the following Monday/Tuesday during warm season). 

BUT, if you've chosen express shipping, we'll ship the next day, with the guidelines below.

Express Shipping

We offer express shipping via UPS. If your shipping address is in a metro area where UPS delivers to homes on Saturdays, we can ship on Fridays. Otherwise, we only ship overnight orders Mondays through Thursdays. If you're in Colorado, shipping via standard shipping will usually get your package to you just as quickly as UPS, and much more cheaply (or free).

What this means: if you order on a Wednesday morning and want your goodies by Friday, guaranteed by UPS, choose "UPS Standard Overnight" as your shipping method. Why? Because we'll ship Thursday morning, and you'll get your package on Friday.

Ordering after Wednesday at noon MT? There's not much point in choosing UPS Overnight, because UPS may not deliver on Saturday. 

If you have questions or a caramel emergency or just want to talk about the best and most cost-effective way to ship your order, please email orders@saltcaramels.com or call (303) 834-7048. We'll help you!

Hot Weather Information

During warm weather, we do a couple things to help safeguard your order. First, we ship our standard shipping orders on Mondays and Tuesdays. That (almost always) eliminates the chance that your box will spend a weekend in a hot post office or UPS warehouse. Also, we wrap up your caramels in heat-protective packaging and use cold packs. They are not fail-safe, but will keep your caramels intact during shipment.

But we can't protect your treats if the box is left to languish in the sunshine on a scorching hot porch. You know your house and your schedule better than we do: if you won't be around most of a Summer day, ship to the mail room at your office, or choose an express delivery method like UPS, so that you can know exactly when to expect your package.

It's really important to us that you love your order. If you're not happy, we're going to work with you to make it right. If we make an error, we hope to catch it before you do, and we’ll fix it at Helliemae's expense. But that only works if everybody's reasonable. If you've let your order swelter on a 90 degree front porch for hours, or if it just turns out you don't like the dark intensity of our caramels, well, there's not a lot we can do about that. One thing to be sure to do: when you order, we email you a confirmation. Please take a look and make sure the shipping address is correct - if it's not, contact us right away at orders@saltcaramels.com.