Sandy inventor tells sandwich eaters to can it

SANDY — Move over, Lunchables.

Step aside, Hot Pockets.

There's a new instant snack food in town, and this one has a shelf life.

Introducing the Candwich, a food product that is ... well, just that — a sandwich in a can. Marketed with the slogan "Quick & Tasty, Ready To Eat," the Candwich doesn't need to be refrigerated, comes in a 24-ounce soda-style can and can be stored for up to a year.

It's the brainchild of Mark Kirkland, a Sandy resident who has spent 10 years trying to capitalize on the idea.

"There are 12 billion cans of soda sold in vending machines a year, so if they buy a sandwich, there's a real profit," Kirkland said, surrounded by prototypes of the cans in peanut butter and jelly and barbecue chicken form.

The launch product — peanut butter and jelly — includes a plastic-packaged hot dog bun, individual condiment packets of peanut butter and jelly (grape or strawberry flavor) and a Nestle candy product "for the kids," he said.

"It's actually good. I'm not kidding," Kirkland said as he gobbled down a Candwich. "The bread is the main thing. It's soft and tastes great."

That bread, made locally by Rocky Mountain Bakery (a division of Dunford Bakers), was what won him over. The development of a shelf-stable bread made the Candwich possible. Consultants who perfect such technology for the military helped with the Candwich, Kirkland said.

The meat (barbecue chicken is baked into the bread) also is made locally by Morrison Meat Pies.

Still, the Candwich's development has come with its setbacks. It's been a decade-long process that began when Kirkland thought of the ideas in the '90s as a way to sell cookies. But it took years to secure a patent. He even bought a Candwich warehouse in Florida that was damaged by a hurricane.

The worst blow, though, was a bum investor. Travis Wright, of Draper, signed on to Candwich in 2003, but his commitment was spotty at best. Wright ended up investing a little more than $1 million in Candwich.

But Wright was sued by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission this month after he raised $145 million from 175 investors and only used $6 million of it for promised real estate ventures.

A story published last week in the New York Times about Wright's case — titled "Money in the Bank? No, Sandwich in a Can" — has catapulted the Candwich to fame.