Veteran broadcaster Darlene Ming has a new career that’s a real treat.The former anchor and programming director for the Bermuda Broadcasting Company has given up the fast-paced world of TV news to run her uncle Ruigg Maurice Roberts’ candy wholesale business on Court Street.Ms Ming left Bermuda Broadcasting last year and while she misses local news she said she’s “fallen in love” with the candy business.She said she also wanted to make sure her uncle’s legacy was carried on and that the company he started back in 1949, RM Roberts, continued to grow.“Many Bermudians remember Mr Roberts standing in the doorway of the shop,” Ms Ming said, pointing to a much-loved painting of him by local artist Lisa Rego.Ever the journalist, Ms Ming has also thrown herself into researching running a small business in Bermuda and is seeking answers as to why the Customs import duty on candy is more than 22 percent higher than almost everything except cars and boats.She said she plans to continue to operate out of the small warehouse on Court Street next to Zaki’s Bakery and wants to learn more about the benefits of being in the EEZ (Economic Empowerment Zone) and how the BSBDC can assist more in this area.“I have gained a respect for people who operate small businesses in Bermuda,” she said. “And I want to be involved in helping small businesses.”Ms Ming became involved in RM Roberts when her uncle approached family members for help in running it a few years ago.She gradually learned the ropes from him and eventually took over the business full time after he passed away two years ago. Mr Roberts started the company as a trader, Ms Ming said, and having significant contacts in New York City “he was able to acquire good products at good prices”. A former Bermuda Militia member, Mr Roberts managed to carry on those relationships and build on them through the years.RM Roberts continues to have the exclusive rights in Bermuda to wholesale a number of popular candy brands, including Red Band Wine Gums from the Netherlands, Albanese gumi rings, Sour Power belts and straws, Old Dominion Peanut Butter Brittles and many old fashioned-style sweets such as Ginger Cuts and English mints.Ms Ming has since added new candy brands and expanded into new areas.She said she’s become a regular at candy trade shows in the US, and is always on the lookout for healthier, natural, lower-sugar brands of candy and the next big thing in sweet snacks.“I go every year to the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago it’s three acres of candy and for three days you eat your way through the show,” she laughed.She points to a tin of all natural “ginger mango chews”, saying she believes it will be a hit in the adult, higher end candy market, which she caters to.Her biggest customers are supermarkets, pharmacies and gas stations.She personally packs smaller bags of some of her popular candies for sale at select gas stations and other stores who were looking for a lower priced product in the sour economic times.Ms Ming said her uncle was also one of the pioneers of bringing in sports uniforms to the Island.“But candy was always the main focus,” she said.Ms Ming began her pioneering broadcast career working summers at Bermuda Broadcasting at the age of 15. She worked for Bermuda Tourism in Chicago for many years but returned to Bermuda and ZBM, where her calm manner and polished presentation lent an air of professionalism to the nightly news over the years.Ms Ming eventually gave up the anchor desk and became programming director, overseeing the last FIFA World Cup before stepping down from TV for good.“What I have discovered in this new chapter of my life is I am an entrepreneur,” she said. “I have that spirit.”