The Sugar Pop store experience

Hindu metro plus , Sugar pop store

Have you been to the Sugar pop candy store here in Coimbatore ? I stumbled upon it purely by accident at the Le Meridien hotel and fell head over heels instantly. The pop art is what catches your eye immediately and has you feeling like a little child all over again. Brightly painted lips and pretty candy stripes on the walls , prints of sweets, coloured poofs that look like clear boiled candy all share a happy space and you cannot stop smiling. The eyes then continue to wander hungrily ,seeking more and the store does not disappoint in the least. You cannot help but notice the adorable minion candy displayed on the first shelf ! The tall mannequin in the middle flaunts a vibrant skirt made entirely of candy wrappers .The entire atmosphere is focused on the fun and quirky. It’s without a doubt a ‘charlie and the chocolate factory’ moment !

The first time we visited this store was in fact at Chennai. My companion was thrilled to bits and bought herself a raspberry flavoured EOS lip balm.Imagine our excitement when we were told by Michelle, who manages the store and is head of marketing , that the Coimbatore store was bigger and had lots more goodies on offer ! I had to see it to believe .

I’m happy to say that it exceeded expectations.The creative head behind the Sugar pop concept is Anandhi Periasamy , who having lived abroad for a good many years found the need for a candy store that was visually fun as well as unique. After a great deal of research ,she identified the kind of stuff that she wanted to sell in the store. She is also in charge of sourcing the products which she does through her frequent travels. The inventory that the store carries of each item is quite minimal. That’s understandable considering that a lot of these sweets are not cheap and have been carefully hand carried from different parts of the globe.

What I found specially interesting is the effort put in by Anandhi to bring together such a varied mix of confectionery under one roof. On one side , you see the jelly bellies , the heads and tails oreo , the rainbow’s nerd rope but on the other side you also see exotic chocolate bars with matcha tea and Himalayan pink crystal salt.That’s when I realized that this is more than just a ‘pander to your frivolousness’ candy store. One entire shelf has dark chocolate where a percentage of the proceeds go to saving endangered animals , chocolate with no added sugar , organic chocolate with chilli , black rice and quinoa. PB&J chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s , black sesame candy from Asia , blueberries and acai in dark chocolate, salt water taffy , push pop candy from Taiwan , assorted fruit extracts in Disney shapes, all vie  for attention in the brightly lit store.

And I love the way they are displayed , in bell jars ,giant glass goblets,open mouthed shallow bowls, all tempting the visitor to try at least one. I also spotted the cigarette sweets that I used to love as a kid. Remember they used to come printed with the phantom comic images? I had to stop eating that when my dad thought the cigarette candy holding looked too similar to the real thing !

Each time I walked around the shop , I chanced upon something new. I tell you,the visit by itself was so much fun. Where else can you see chocolates called ‘Sooper Dooper Reindeer pooper’ which was an adorable little reindeer with a pile of dark and milk chocolate poop balls . I’m sure there are a few little ones who would love to have a go at that.

I asked Anandhi to pick her favourite and she immediately mentioned the freeze dried astronaut icecream. She says it’s so cool because it’s low in calories,dehydrated in a hygienic manner and it’s exactly what astronauts eaten in space .It’s not that easy to come by which makes it more special.

Sugar pop also caters to custom requirements and would love to elevate the candy eating experience to a whole other level.

My vision is full of lemon drops, smurf gummies and what not. If the sweets don’t tempt you,the pumpkin pie chap stick just might !

www.sugarpop.in