Sweet Pride

Sugarwitch: a place of community, passion and ice cream sandwiches

When Sophie Moss and Martha Moss first began tinkering with the idea of Sugarwitch back in 2019, it was just a passion project—a way to play with food and creativity while they were both in grad school in Columbia, Missouri. When Bass landed a job in St. Louis, the couple made the move and brought Sugarwitch with them. The city’s vibrant, tight-knit food scene turned out to be the perfect landing spot.

“St. Louis is sort of at a really cool intersection where it’s big enough to be really robust and diverse, and there are exciting things happening,” said Sophie Moss. “ It is also small enough that rather than a sense of cutthroat competition, there is a real sense of community in this idea that when we all do well, we all do well.”

That spirit has shaped Sugarwitch from the beginning. Known for their wildly imaginative ice cream sandwiches, the shop is proudly queer-owned, with a mission rooted in community and care. The queer identity of the shop’s founders isn’t a footnote—it’s foundational.

“We have a queer-normative workplace. Our staff have identities all over the place and a general perspective of care and attention to each other’s needs,” stated Sophie Moss. “It makes for a workplace where people feel like they have room to express and be themselves and change.”

This commitment to mutual respect is reflected from the staff onto the customers as well. With this foundation of care and attention, staff are confident enough to stand up for customers and create a culture of welcoming. Inclusivity isn’t just a slogan, but a daily practice.

Of course, running a small food business can come with challenges. Ice cream is inherently seasonal, and can pose challenges when committed to providing ethical employment.

“We’ve always been really committed to labor, and to being a good place to work and offering stable, year-round employment, even though we make a seasonal product,” Sophie Moss added.

Another unexpected hurdle was finding kitchen space in St. Louis. Sophie Moss and Bass were able to share a kitchen when they were based in Columbia, but that option wasn’t as accessible once they moved to St. Louis. When Sugarwitch opened its brick-and-mortar location, they certified their space as an incubator kitchen—offering other budding food entrepreneurs a chance to get started.

It’s that dedication to mutual aid, equity and creativity that makes Sugarwitch more than just a dessert shop. To make their vision possible within the narrow constraint of ice cream sandwiches, plenty of creativity is required – a challenge that they both relate to and embrace.

Looking ahead, the owners hope to grow their wholesale operations, deepen community partnerships and help build a stronger network of queer-owned businesses across the city. Their mission is simple: a commitment to building a more equitable food system.

This Pride Month, Sugarwitch is celebrating the way it always has – with care, creativity and a dollar from every Rainbow Brite ice cream sandwich going to tornado relief funds. It’s sweet, it’s colorful and it’s community in every bite.

Support Sugarwitch:
Visit them at their St. Louis location or check out the Pridewich this month—$1 from each sandwich goes to People’s Hub and For the Ville for tornado relief.