Northampton woman turns love of sweets into business by launching pick and mix company

A local woman who has a love for all things sweet has turned her passion into a pick and mix business.

Gabriella Sparrow, who lives in Pineham, is currently furloughed from her job in the legal sector, so has used her down time to start a new venture.

The 26-year-old launched Candy Queen on Tuesday (May 26), which allows customers to pick a range of sweets to fill a 500g or 1kg bag that will then be delivered to their doorstep.

Gaby said: “I’ve always loved sweets and when I was younger I wanted my own business.

“Before lockdown, I used to order my pick and mix from another local lady, but when I went to look the page was no longer there.

“So I thought ‘why don’t I put my love of sweets into something for us?’

“I was at a bit of a loss as I like to be busy, so I thought I’d give it a go as it’s something I can try to manage alongside my job once I go back.

“I’m never going to get a better time than now when I still have an income to support myself and I have the time to do it.”

The idea first came to Gaby a few weeks ago, so in the lead up to the launch of Candy Queen she has been busy making sure everything is in order.

“I had a look at wholesalers to work out the costs and the best way to do it all,” she added.

“I’m buying from online wholesalers as they have huge quantities in stock each time and I just started with what sweets I would like.

“I looked at Companies House to make sure the name of the business wasn’t taken and I also registered as a food business and I’m waiting for a food inspection, but the council confirmed that I could trade in the meantime.”

The business is being run from Gaby’s home that she shares with her husband and the couple also do all the deliveries themselves too.

“The sweets are sealed and are safely stored in kitchen cupboards and at the moment we have 30 sweets to choose from,” Gaby continued.

“We also have quite a big selection for vegetarians and vegans and I think there’s a market for that here.

“It’s been amazing so far and we had a lot of pre-orders and we’ve got a lot of enquiries, so I’ve just got to manage them now.

“We already had compliments saying they taste really fresh, I think compared to pick and mix in shops, so we’re planning to pick them on Friday and deliver them on Saturday so they are still fresh.

“We’ll see how it goes, I’d love to expand further but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”

Looking to the future, Gaby is planning to start creating themed bags, sweet grazing boxes and favour bags for weddings and children’s parties.

The pick and mix bags come in two different sizes and customers are asked to pick a minimum of eight sweets.

Bags weighing 500g cost £6.50 and the 1kg bags are priced at £11. Both can be delivered anywhere in the NN1 to NN6 area.

To place an order, to find out more and to get involved in the social media giveaway Gaby is running, search @candyqueensweets on Facebook.

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