Sweet tooth paradise

It starts with an almost imperceptible nod from the parent. And then, the face of the child lights up in front of the Candy Mix outlet. More often than not, the child will have a hard time making his choices from almost 50 kinds of bulk candy–all sorts and shapes of gummies, mallows, eggs and everything else that make up a sweet tooth paradise. Each 100-gram bag, worth P45, is preciously held on to for a minute or two and then its contents are quickly gobbled up.

Candy Mix is the trademark of Candy Mix Plus International, which was started eight years ago by Edison and Tina Mariano.

"During a trip to the United States and Canada, we saw the big candy stores and how they were such a hit with the children, including our two kids," said Tina Mariano, who handles operations and finance. "Instead of getting a Philippine franchise, we decided to put up our own candy store chain."

Three additional children later, the business has grown to 15 outlets, all company-owned and focused in Metro Manila malls.

Expansion

This year, Candy Mix Plus intends to grow through franchising.

"Everything, including our franchise fee, will be in place by July when the 2nd Filipino Franchise Show, organized by the Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc., is held," she said. "We’d like to add four to six franchise outlets each year, targeting community malls and even schools in the provinces. In the case of malls, our experience shows that prime locations are near escalators, amusement centers, and cinemas."

The company currently has four types of outlets, ranging in size from a two to three square meters candy stand to a 22-30 sqm. full-service store that carries the complete Candy Mix line.

Because 60% of its market are young children aged 10 years and below, the outlets have very attractive display windows that are at the eye level of children.

Purchases

Bulk candy or candies by weight account for most of the business that includes toys dispensing chocolate, gum, and candy as well.

"Although most of our products are imported, we don’t have to travel abroad to buy them. We use local distributors or importers," said Mariano, who wants to add more locally-made candies to the company’s inventory.

At any point in time, the company carries 100 products, all of which are product tested by the Mariano children, aged three to 11.

"If they pass a product, then we take a look at it. If they don’t like it, we ask them what they don’t like about it and we get ideas from them on what can make it better or how it should taste," she said.

House brand

To push product awareness, Candy Mix Plus has created a mascot called Gummy for party bookings.

"Being in children’s parties makes sense. They are our present and future markets," said Mariano. "Not only do we introduce our brand name and products to children and their parents, we also get paid for it."

For example, the party appearance of Gummy costs P500. A four-hour stay with 100 servings or party bags–the children get to choose from 24 varieties of candies – costs P3,900.

"Our work is not just the source of our livelihood. It is our mission to use our talents to the fullest and to share what we have with others," she said.

In the business of giving children sweet heaven, there’s no place to go but up for Candy Mix Plus.