How This Ex-Attorney Reinvented Hard Candy as a Health Tool

0:02Did you hear that? That's opportunity knocking. We've been building something big. Introducing Opportunity Knocks, a new campaign giving startup CPG brands exclusive direct access to submit to leading retailers, distributors, investors, media, and more. Here's how it works. On Fridays, a new submission window opens exclusively for active Startup CPG email subscribers. Each campaign features a custom form tailored to that partner. Share your brand story, products, distribution, and traction. Startup CPG delivers your applications directly to the partner's team. Some campaigns include a live fireside chat so you can meet the partner and ask questions directly.

0:44To get every drop, subscribe at startupcpg.com slash OK. That's just the letters O and K. Today's drop is live and it's with Thrive Market. Ready? Go. Go subscribe. Go submit. Good luck.

1:16my mom you know as a registered dietitian i'm telling you she's had hard candy every day like twice a day for 30 years and if you were to ask my mom like do you eat candy she'd be like no I mean, it's hard. Sometimes I'm like, I want people to be like, oh yeah, I have candy every day. But then I want people to feel comfortable to see our product in a light where it's like, I'm not eating candy. Like this actually supports my goals and I can have it every day. Because when you think of candy, you're like, oh no, I can't have it every day. But you can have this every day. Hey everybody, this is Caitlin Bricker, Managing Editor at Startup CPG.

1:52we are back with another founder feature. Today I'm sitting down with Erica Haft, founder of Sweeter Collective, an organic hard candy brand that's modernizing what hard candy can be with just 16 calories and less than three grams of sugar per piece. Erica is an ex-attorney who spent 10 years in law before realizing she wanted something different. Her mom is a registered dietician who's had hard candy every single day for 30 plus years and that was the spark for this brand. After nearly two years of R &D with the custom round sphere mold, soluble tapioca fiber, and oats to create a truly long-lasting candy, Sweeter Collective launched and recently moved to NYC to be in the epicenter of CPG.

2:35We're driving into why the panning technique didn't work, how she landed on the boiling method, why planetary branding from Jupiter, Florida became her entire creative direction, her in-store demo feedback, and why price point education is key. We're also exploring what it looks like to position hard candy, not as a candy, but as a daily tool for mindfulness and control. If you're sold on Sweeter Collective like I was the first time I tried it, you can use code STARTUPCPG, all one word, no space in between, to get 10 % off your order. Everybody that places an order can use it once, so I highly recommend.

3:13If you're looking to connect with buyers, investors, and industry experts in real time, you need to be in our community. Join our free Slack community with over 40 ,000 members, get access to exclusive events and trade shows where you can meet those buyers and investors in real life, tap into free resources and more. Text CPG to 833-605-7002. That's 833-605-7002 and we'll get in touch. As always, enjoy. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Caitlin, and today I'm here with Erica Haft, founder of Sweeter Collective. Erica, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I am so happy to be here.

3:58I'm so happy to have you here. I have to say, you have been one of my biggest cheerleaders in the past few months. I am so excited to have this conversation with you. We'll get into all things, but first, can you tell us what Sweeter Collective is? Sure. Sweeter Collective is an organic, modern hard candy brand that is modernizing what you think about hard candy. It's a fun candy. It's a healthy candy, and it's something that can help us stay on track with our health goals. Which is exactly why I bring you on to this podcast. A, because your products are really good, and B, because your products have fallen into line with exactly what I have been trying to do on my own personal health journey and losing some weight.

4:44So tell us your background and how you got into Sweeter Collective. Sure. So, okay, I used to be an attorney, ex-attorney for almost 10 years. I never in a million years thought I would be a CPG food founder. Like this is my dream job. I get to do the coolest things like every day so many aspects of being a founder is so fun and creative and also gets to use some business acumen of course as well but how did i get into this so i grew up my mom's a registered dietitian so i have been learning about health and nutrition since i was a little girl and so essentially my mom has been having hard candy every day for the past 30 years and it has helped her stay on track with her health goals, satisfy her sweet tooth, not feel restricted, indulge every day.

5:37And she makes discipline like look easy. And I could never connect to hard candy. But as I got older and sitting at my law desk every day and always just wanting something sweet every day, I realized she's onto something. So I said, how can I connect with hard candy? Because it's obviously working. It's a tool, but I am not like drawn to try it, you know, ever didn't use it as a tool. So I upgraded hard candy, essentially. And that's what our sweeter pops are. This is funny to me, because you are creating a brand for yourself, you're doing something that works for you, you're doing something that works for other people.

6:15But you're also carrying a legacy on for your mom. Does this bring back good memories for you when you think of hard candy as you're building this brand? Or what does that feel like for you? So true. Yeah, I'm very happy to report my mom only has sweet ear pops now. But yeah, I always think about like when I was a kid, I think about all the time she's like, do you want a heart candy after lunch to, you know, end the meal, have her a little sweet tooth. And I'm always thinking about when I was like, no, like, I don't want that. Like, why would I want that? It doesn't even taste good. And I crunch right through them like, no, thanks.

6:50I'll skip it. I'll just like, have still crave something else. But no, I don't even want that. So, yeah, I'm like proud of myself. I think sometimes like how did no one think of this first? Why am I, Erica Haft, changing the landscape on hard candy and like bringing it back to the mainstream? It is very interesting because I don't see hard candy brands. I just don't. Everything is chewy these days. And you bring up a really good point with crunching right through the hard candies because I'm definitely a cruncher. When I give my daughter lollipops, we always have to say, don't crunch on it. No chewing.

7:29And she'll always make eye contact with me and my husband if she's going to try to bite through the lollipop. We're like, don't. We got to save your teeth. So you do bring up a really good point. You have solved a problem. I have to say, I mentioned this already, but these have been a fantastic tool for me on my weight loss journey. because when I get that little voice inside of my head that's like, hmm, why don't you go grab something sweet from the kitchen? I'm like, no, I'll just reach into the mason jar and grab a sweeter pop. And I timed myself. It lasted over 19 minutes. Wow. So yes, I wanted the ice cream prior to putting the sweeter pop in my mouth.

8:14And three, five minutes in, I forgot I even wanted ice cream in the first place. And it was the perfect trade off for me. Literally exactly why I created it. It's not to say like to restrict yourself and be like, oh, I can only have a hard candy that's like has good stats, 16 calories, less than three grams of sugar, almost two grams of fiber. Like, yeah, that's great. But sometimes we really don't need this, the real big sweet. We just want that little something or it's just a psychology game between us. And so it's like, okay, I'll have my hard candy. It's going to last hopefully 10 minutes, 19 minutes for some people.

8:51And then after I'll decide if I truly really need that bigger sweet. And most times you don't. And sometimes you do, which is okay. What's your favorite flavor? I got to ask, tell us all the flavors you have. And then who's your favorite? We all know that you have a favorite. So what one is it? I have a favorite. I tell people and I'm like, don't tell people, but I guess I'll tell everyone out. So I'll tell you our flavors, which are obviously very important. Our first four flavors. We have Shirley Temple, Island Spritz, Vanilla Oat Latte, and Salted Caramel Cream. And my favorite is Salted Caramel Cream because to me, it tastes the most like dessert.

9:32And it's actually pretty filling. In the texture in your mouth, you feel like you're getting so much more than a hard candy. And then you're getting all of that flavor for 10 minutes. So it's like the best of both worlds. Shirley Temple is my personal fave. Very nostalgic for me. I remember ordering Shirley Temple's as a kid with extra cherries, but I wouldn't dare have a Shirley Temple at this stage in my life. So this is the perfect solution to that problem. I know. And you kind of feel like rebellious because you're like, I can have a Shirley Temple anytime I want now, but I don't any permission from my parents.

10:08Like I wasn't allowed to have Shirley Temple's all the time. It was like very special occasions. But yeah, actually, Shirley Temple is our best selling flavor. I love it. And I do like the fact that all of the flavors taste good. They're very unique in their flavor profiles. They have different colors. When I have the sweeter pops, they are in a mason jar. It's just all of them mixed in the mason jar. I don't even have to separate by flavor because they're all good. Oh, good. Thank you. I'm happy to hear that. Yeah, we tried to differentiate the colors as best we could. It is harder when you aren't using artificial dyes to achieve a vibrant color, but pretty happy with our colors using natural fruits and veggies.

10:47I'm happy that you're talking about this. Talk to me about your R &D and how you landed on your formulations. And it sounds like the crunch was really a big thing for you. You wanted it to be long lasting. So tell me all the things. Talk to me about choosing your flavors, choosing your ingredients and getting to that point where you had a product where you felt good about launching it into the world. Awesome. Yeah. So the long lasting part was really important to me because I'm a cruncher. I eat really fast. And I knew that part of what I needed for this product was for it to last a long time so I could get past that mental craving.

11:23I'm going to call it a mental craving because that's really basically what it really is. And so at first, I kind of was inspired by jawbreakers. And do you remember long-lasting jawbreakers. Oh, yes. So that's a panning technique. And that's just like all sugar and a panning technique. And it's these big silver, I don't even know what you call them. And the candy just like rolls around for like hours to keep getting the sugar. And so at first, I was trying to do the panning technique, but of course, with innovative, very healthy, organic ingredients, and just weren't able to do that. I did work with an R &D company, of course, that we spent, I think it was almost eight months.

12:05So at first we tried for a few months on the panning technique. I don't think I've ever told you this. And then we, of course, had to divert and we said, okay, we'll go to the more customary hard candy, which is a boiling method, which is of course faster, easier, and there's more manufacturers who use that method production. So yeah, it was a lot of trial and error. Part of the formulation, the ingredients, What contributes to the long lasting aspect is we do use soluble tapioca fiber and we use oats, which helps it dissolve slower. And on top of that, what you'll see is you'll see a lot of the hard candies are oval shaped.

12:44And for me, that's easier to crunch through, right? And of course, they use the artificial ingredients. So it's a little different than hers. So I said, OK, I want a round sucking candy like a jawbreaker. It's harder to crunch through it. And it was really hard to find a manufacturer that had the dyes, they call them the dyes, the molds, and that were round because they're just not as popular anymore. Well, you know, a lot of the manufacturers are manufacturing, say, for hard candy and also lozengers. They share that similar disc shape. And since ours was different, it was harder to find an organic certified manufacturer who had our round sphere dyes.

13:24Where do you even begin to look for a co-man that's going to make something like this for you? Oh, it took months. Yeah. I mean, a hard process is to find your co-man. And I said, until you experience it, you're just like, oh, it won't be for me. And then, of course, it was like it was very, very difficult. Wow. Also, panning technique. This is the first time I've ever heard that, which is no surprise because I haven't talked to another hard candy brand before. I think I've probably interviewed about 75 brands at this point. First time I'm ever hearing that term. So this is cool. I'm learning.

14:00Oh, yeah, panning. And that's why you don't see any panned hard candies anymore, right? You don't see any candies other than jawbreakers that have that similar texture as like a jawbreaker just because it's so old school, so time consuming. No manufacturer wants to spend the labor and time to create those types of products. Makes a lot of sense. So how many iterations of your product did you have before you landed on what you have today? Honestly, it's a good question. I know I have all of the different versions saved. I think they're up in my parents' attic in a big, you know, plastic box. I was like, one day when I make it, I'm going to go back and I'm going to go look at these.

14:40And I mean, who knows how long they'll last. But yeah, I really don't even know, to be honest. I really would say probably like 15 different versions with the R &D company. And then you have to test and trial it on as you scale the formula onto bigger machinery. our co-manufacturer's machinery so then you're doing more testing more changing taking a while and brings me to the point of it took me almost two years to launch which I saw as a big failure to be honest back when I was going through it I was pretty down about it but like we've talked about already took a long time with the R &D took a long time with the manufacturer and yeah it's finally here.

15:21Finally got to submit to the Shelfie Awards. Super proud to be a semi-finalist. Yes. It's a big feat. Thank you. Sweet products are huge every year. And for you to have made it to be a finalist is a huge accomplishment. You should be very proud. Thank you. I really, I am. Good. Good. And I know that you've recently moved to New York City too. Yes. My fire escape in the background. I'm officially in New York. What prompted you to make the move to New York City? Well, I was coming to New York for a lot of different Startup CPG events, summer fancy foods over the past two years. And there's so much going on here that supports emerging CPG brands.

16:05And there's so many in IRL events. It's easy to get in front of people to get people to trial your product. And I'm from Jupiter, Florida. I've been living in West Palm Beach. and I thought, wow, like why not? Just like I left my job to create hard candy. I like to say I left my job to create sucking candy. Like sounds so, I didn't even tell anyone what I was doing when I left my job because I was like embarrassed. Like, oh yeah, I'm leaving to create sucking candies. But just like I left my job and said, why not? I really believe in it. It's like, why not move to New York City? So yeah, I'm here through the end of December.

16:44I would absolutely love to be a little snowbird and come back up in the spring and the summer and then fly back down to Florida in the winter. It is the epicenter of CPG, in my opinion. There is just so much going on. There's so many indie retail stores. You have the big national retailers there, too. There's just the possibilities are endless. And I'm really I did not know that you were from Jupiter, Florida. But now that you're saying it, I'm like, wow, OK, this is making sense now because you could have so many things to do with branding and planets. And yeah, there's a lot of fun things there.

17:20Can I show my packaging? I want to please. So that's actually totally a lot of our branding. So this is actually a big part of our branding. And why I a lot of times reference the sweeter universe is because I am from Jupiter, Florida, and we do have a sphere shaped hard candy. And so we do play into the whole planetary theme. And also when you have candy and you have a 10 minute candy, which is like a long lasting moment, you get to go to your sweeter universe for that time period because you are happy and you're feeling good and enjoying flavor. I love this. Okay. So talk to me more about your branding.

18:02How did you land on the branding that you have today? I have to say that I made an observation about your products from the first time I met you and saw your products, Expo West 2025 to today, which is I noticed that you upgraded the sweeter pops inside to have your branding on the packaging. Huge upgrade, I noticed. Thank you. Yes, yes. And would love to one day, hopefully soon, have each hard candy have the name of the flavor on it. Right now, you know, there are some restrictions when you are a smaller volume brand working with a co-manufacturer. There's only so much time that they can, you know, alternate different packaging on the machinery.

18:43So right now we just have that standard sweeter wrapper on each flavor. But yeah, the branding was so fun. I mean, imagine a girl who did not get to use any creative muscle for almost 10 years other than picking fun, cool words in different arguments. I mean, I guess that's creative. But I am like living my dream getting to go on Pinterest to look at other brands for inspo. It's just so much fun the entire process. So, yeah, I mean, there was a lot of fun little innuendos on our packaging, too. I guess that's the right word. But I'll have to read it and then I'll let you know. Yeah, I need the dictionary.

19:27This is me and my dog, Sky, and we're going to the sweeter universe because when you have the product, you go there. So yeah, there was a lot of just like fun playing around with this sweeter collective branding. But we actually are in the midst of rebranding a little bit. We are actually going to be coming out with new packaging in our next production run, which I think is really going to aid the consumer who is seeing our product for the first time on a shelf. Because as you know, you can do a lot of education when the product is online on Amazon. There's so much description, why it can help you, why it's not just regular hard candy.

20:09And right now our packaging, I just don't think is doing enough and telling the consumer, hey, yeah, we're hard candy, but like, here's all the reasons why we're different than your grandma's hard candy. And so that's what we're aiming to achieve with this new packaging design. Have you done any in-store demos yet? I'm really curious to know that. Yeah, I did do in-store demos. We were lucky enough to launch in Sprouts' Forge Refines innovation section. Thank you. That was an incredible experience. I did demos. I also was able to hire a team that helped me do demos out on the West Coast. I guess a lot of people were surprised to even see hard candy, right?

20:51Because they're not even used to seeing any new hard candy brands. And also, what I ran into was there was some people who, you know, actually said, Oh, does that have sugar in your product? And I said, Yeah. And they said, Oh, I just don't do any sugar. And so or some people would say, I don't eat candy at all. And was like, touche, like, I don't really eat much candy either, which this is kind of something that I like I think about at times, I'm like, Like, I don't eat candy, but I have sweeter pops. I have my hard candy because I don't view them as candy. And like, that's probably what you feel like, too.

21:31Like, you're on your health journey. You're not eating candy every day, but you are if you are having the sweeter pops. Right. I definitely look at it more as a tool than like grabbing for a piece of candy. You're totally right. I'm not like in my head thinking, oh, let me go eat some candy. That's not what pops into my head. It's like an oral fixation. It's good for the mind. You mentioned this. It's kind of, I don't even know the best word to describe it, but it is a good distraction away from something that would throw me off of my track that I'm on right now. Yeah, exactly. Like my mom, you know, as a registered dietitian, I'm telling you, she's had hard candy every day, like twice a day for 30 years.

22:18And if you were to ask my mom, like, do you eat candy? She'd be like, no. And then, you know, like, you don't, that's how I want. I mean, it's hard. Sometimes I'm like, I want people to be like, oh, yeah, I have candy every day. But then I want people to feel comfortable to see our product in a light where it's like, I'm not eating candy. Like this actually supports my goals. and I can have it every day because when you think of candy, you're like, oh no, I can't have it every day, but you can have this every day. And that's actually something that we want people to be able to say, like, I don't need the donuts that someone brought into the office because I have my hard candy and I already know I'm going to have my candy later at 3 PM.

22:58Cause I always have it at 3 PM. And then like, we have, you know, all four flavors. It's like, okay, well, what mood are you in? You know, you're not always in the mood for chocolate, right? So sometimes you're in the mood for something more light and refreshing, like the Island Spritz. So it's able to support you at all different times the day or the month. I love this. And I also really like the fact that we talked about the demoing because you do have such a unique product. It's not something you can watch somebody eat and enjoy in front of you. You could maybe say, hey, pick the flavor that you want, do your shopping, come back and tell me what you think.

23:33So what was it like when somebody comes back to you after doing their grocery shopping? What's the feedback that they're giving you? So the feedback I got was, yeah, it tasted really great. It was like still in their mouth, but they were like a little hesitant because they looked at the price in Sprouts when I was doing the demos and we priced it at$8.99 initially. I'm happy to report we've lowered it to$7.99. But what people couldn't get over was the fact that this candy bag was$8.99 because they viewed it as just like regular candy, like the kind of candy that you can go through in one sitting.

24:06But that's not our kind of candy, right? Our candy is designed to last a long time. So we have 15 pops per bag. If say on average, it lasts 10 minutes, that's like 150 minutes of flavor. And it's like a really good price per serving essentially per piece. I actually like to think of this as like the cheapest tool in my toolbox, because like imagine you could be hiring a trainer, you're hiring. I mean, everyone should hire a nutritionist at some point. I love that you have, but like all these other expenses add up. And then if you have this hard candy that supports you every day in making a choice that helps you feel in control of your journey, I think it's a pretty decent price point tool to do that.

24:53I think you are spot on with that. And I think that it might be hard for people to grasp that when they are in the grocery store because they're just thinking about the dollar amount that they're putting into the cart. But I can't even tell you how many times I've spent 10 bucks on a chocolate bar that I am most likely eating to myself or unfortunately sharing half of with my husband and it's gone within minutes or$8.99,$7.99. You're getting something that's lasting you a week, two weeks, maybe depending on how often you're eating these. I definitely think it pays for itself. Yeah. And it's an intentional treat that you can have every day knowing that it is taste great and it's supporting you.

25:35Totally. And I think that I've had these moments and I'm sure there's other people that can relate where we buy things like candy, things that will give us a quick little hit that are sweet and we eat it mindlessly. These are definitely a tool for mindfulness, in my opinion. So I think you're doing a great job with it. And I can only imagine how difficult it is to demo something in store that you can't watch somebody eat and finish in front of you and then give you feedback right there in that moment. So true. Props to you for putting yourself out there and giving it a shot. Thank you. Yeah, I love being like, hey, you want to try candy?

26:13It's been really fun. I can't believe like my life is where it is right now getting to speak to you. You know, just being part of this whole startup CPG community and pursuing my passion. I mean, I really want other people to feel good. Like, honestly, because I know what it feels like every day to like have this chatter in your mind of like, do I eat this? Do I not eat this? And then then you make the wrong decision and then you feel guilty and you don't feel good. And it's like, why can't I have something sweet every day? Why can't I? And that's what I wanted. So ultimately, I really think that this product is so much more than candy.